Visiting Old Ones.








Xander appeared in front of Dawn at her apartment. Not their Xander. He had long hair that was pulled back into a fancy braid that had twinkly things in it. He was a young Xander. He was also wearing leather pants that had subtle markings to Ares and Cupid that were tight enough that they should be praying to Strife. She smiled at him. "Hi, Xander."

"Dawn." He hugged her. "Horatio said I had to have a yard sale, so I did, but there's not much that went there."

"Present warehouse?"

"That too." He flopped down by her feet. "Did you quit working?"

"Concussion. I'm still dizzy. I start back in a few days but my spouses are off shopping." She smiled. "JARVIS, please tell Tony that GHS Xander is here."

"I can do so, Dawn," the AI said. "Mr. Stark said he wanted to see if they could figure out if there were GHS here."

"I can donate blood. Being immie I heal really fast," he said with a grin.

"I'll tell him that, Xander."

A few minutes later Tony was there at a jog. He came up to draw blood. Dawn groaned as she sat up to help. "I can do it, Dawn."

"I'm mostly okay, boss. I was kinda hoping this dizziness was going to go away faster."

"Us too. Linda's *nice* but she's so behind by your usual level."

Dawn smiled. "I've done some of it to send to Pepper." Clint and Natasha came off the elevator with the kids and groceries. "You guys remember Miami GHS Xander, right?"

Clint nodded with a grin. "Another amusement park trip? We can go even though Dawn can't."

"No, Horatio said I had to yard sale and most of the stuff I have wasn't taken there." He shrugged a bit. Tony finished drawing some blood samples and Xander grinned. "Thanks. To us you're a comic but really smart."

Tony smirked. "I am really smart and so are the kids." He tucked those samples into the case and looked at him. "Yard selling what?"

"Jewelry, clothes." He sighed. "A goat. My goats from off-world had a baby goat and it's adorable but kinda deadly. It's already tried to eat the mommy goat."

Dawn snickered. "I heard about those." She smiled at her boss. "They eat *anything*. Human, not human, anything."

Tony looked at her oddly then at Xander. "Why?"

"They use them as a food source, and they do taste really good, but also some places as a test of manhood. You go in with a knife and come out alive, you're a man."

Tony nodded slowly. "I'd like to study that."

"They're huge goats," Dawn said with a smile. "Six foot at the shoulder."

"Their people usually eat them rare with bread to pick them up, sometimes with sauces. Kinda middle easterny in flavor and style but not exactly the same."

Tony nodded. "I'd love to look at the goat. Totally respectfully of course."

"Sure. That's just one huge problem that I don't have to handle." He grinned and got into the bag he had brought with him, pulling out the baby goat. "It's sedated." Tony looked in the bag then at him. Xander grinned. "I found them off-realm. If it fits through the opening it fits inside. There's a stasis field in there so nothing ages or goes bad. But if it gets a hole everything disappears."

"Dawn, study those," Tony ordered, taking the goat. "How long before it wears off?"

"Probably about three hours based on the adults when we have to pump their stomachs because they ate someone. Give it a hershey bar and they go into humming happy times." He grinned and petted it. "It's a good goat. It's very cuddly, but then it'll nibble whoever is cuddling it."

"I'll keep that in mind." He stood up. "Let me get these back to the lab and I'll let Dawn and Pepper help you set up stuff."

Their Xander appeared, staring at his counterpart. "Want to hang out at the temple? That way there's guards and no one who means harm can get in?"

Xander grinned. "I'll be there later."

"Sure." He hugged him and looked at the goat. "I still like the guys who think they should be sent to Afghanistan with a bunch of New York sewer rats to clear out the caves." He disappeared to tell Phil his other part was there. "Phil, Miami GHS Xander is in to yard sale stuff and just gave Stark a baby goat." Phil shivered. That was probably a bad sign.

Tony shook his head. "No one should attack you here. They're all scared of Dawn." He winked and left, taking the goat back to the tower. Once he walked in, he called his biologists to meet him. "Guys, another Alexander in another realm got sent a breeding set of goats from his off-world area." They stared at him. He grinned. "Supposedly they eat anything. Including people. I'm told chocolate sends them into happy times according to that Xander. Bruce!" he called, spotting him. "Two things. Off-world goat from another Xander's realm." Bruce looked at it. "Grows to be about six foot at the shoulder. Apparently is omnivorous and eats people too. Someone wanted to send it to Afghanistan to clean out the caves with some local sewer rats. Also." He handed over the blood. "High hormone and pheremone problem that leads to that Xander being wanted more than Godiva chocolates on Valentine's day by Pepper. See if you can find it and why?"

"I can try." He petted the goat. "It's adorable." He smiled as the goat blinked at the petting people. It made a kind of bleating/mooing noise then bit someone, humming as it chewed on her finger. He and Tony pried the finger out while the other biologists sent the wounded, crying biologist to the infirmary. "Okay, it eats people."

"That Xander said they go into a pen with one and a knife as a test of manhood and if you come out alive you're a man."

Their Xander appeared with a grin, smirking at the goat. It tried to bite him. "Try it again." It did and bit some power instead. It bleated/mooed again and wiggled. He created a stick with leaves for it. It was just as happy with that as it had been with the finger. "They will eat *anything* except maybe wasabi peas. That Xander said one of his goats threw some up when one of the farm hands tried to feed him some." They nodded at that. "They taste really good. They're really tender goats. They're also very disease resistant, bred that way, and adapt beautifully to almost any environment. No one's tried to raise them underwater yet."

He grinned. "They come out nursing and the mother kicks them off the tit when they try to eat her instead of the milk. Usually literally." The scientists nodded, staring at him. "GHS is an uncontrollable surge of pheromones. They go up, you get pounced. You get stolen. You get kept as a human kitty cat until they tire of you. There's over two thousand in his US. They have a support group, conventions, all that."

"I can look," Bruce promised. "Is there any way to keep it from eating people?"

"Nope. They have electrified muzzles and it still doesn't always work. They're sneaky little shits too." He disappeared because the baby goat was trying to bite him.

"Okay, let's set up a lab so we can watch his behavior and response to various foods," Tony decided. Bruce nodded. "We can let the biologists help after they're done helping that one." They got a spare room set up to keep the goat safe and secure, mining it with cameras, sensors, and adapted a Roomba to go in to pick up after it so they could test the poop and pee. Tony even got it hay to pad the floor for it. It liked that. They put some into a bucket. The goat ate the bucket first then the extra hay. By then most of the biologists were back up there and watching it. They came up with all sorts of things to expose it to as a food source so they could test it.

***

Callia rolled up to the viewing window, hitting a button. Chris had put a seat lift kit on her chair for her. She adored her baby brother sometimes. She stared at the goat. "Wow. It's adorable."

"It's deadly," one of the biologists said. Her whole arm was bandaged. "I reached in to give it some corn."

Callia looked at her then at the goat. "Okay, so it's a cannibal goat." The others all nodded. She stared. "What are we going to do with it when we've figured it out?"

"Someone mentioned sending it to Afghanistan to clear out the cave district," the bandaged one quipped. "We know it's bulletproof and eats them too. One of the guards tried to shoot it to get it off me."

"Huh. We need to know how. Is it their fur?"

"No, it's their musculature," Tony said as he walked behind her. "Not sure yet if we'll keep it as a Stark pet or not." They all nodded and someone opened the feeding door and shoved in a hershey bar then watched the goat eat it and start to hum and sway. They ran in to sedate it and took it down for CT scans. By the time it was waking up it was back in there with a totally cleaned up room and some new food stuffs to try. They had to do it that way since it had eaten the little Roomba that was to clean up after it.

Callia put her seat back down and rolled after her father. "What did their original people do with it?"

"Ate it."

"Oh, okay." She followed him into his lab to do something. She was bored. Her PT had called her off today and she was tired anyway, bordering on cranky. Her father stared at her. "It's too windy and cold to swim and I've already done my stretches and stuff."

"Good." He settled down to go over her latest design. He had some questions and she was having bad idea syndrome again since it was to make people have sudden spinal pain to stop muggers. He had to make sure this didn't turn her bitter and slightly closer to evil.

***

Dawn smiled at the two people there to meet with her. "Xander's coming back in a minute."

"Alexander?"

"Another him from another realm." Both Xander's showed up and they stared. She smiled. "Xander has a hormone condition that makes him the specially wanted kitty cat in his realm. He's not the only one but his is never-ending some days." They nodded, shaking his hand and talking to him about his goals and needs in this case. She looked at the other Xander. "Any hope of a healing spell?" she asked quietly.

He kissed her on the head. "'Sclep said it's been too long." She pouted. "I know but it's getting better."

"The longer it goes on, the less likely I won't have residual problems," she said quietly.

He smiled. "We'll handle it if you do." She nodded then held her head. He worked on the tense neck muscles, making her more dizzy but she at least wasn't having muscle cramps.

That other Xander looked over. "What happened?"

"Concussion is making me eternally dizzy," she said.

"Poor Dawn." He hugged her. "I'll see if potions making Xander has a clue how to help." She grinned. He went back to showing them the inventory.

"Philip, come help Mommy sort stuff," she called. He came out of his room rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry, were you napping?" she asked with a grin and a cuddle for him. He nodded. They got into Xander's bag of holding and pulled out the jewels to look through. He helped her sort them by color and then by size. He was really good at that. The good sized footlocker was followed by a large lock box. The two women from the auction houses moaned.

"Think how I feel. They're given to me by people who want to own me like I'm their toy and won't take them back when I say no," that Xander complained. "I leave them in a warehouse and don't touch them until they take them back or my financial guy says I have to do a tax audit then I sell them. Though I get over half of them back and the
auction houses around me are getting tired of GHS members at times. We talked with a few notable houses and they all got pissed off that so many stones were coming onto the market. We pointed out they didn't have to and we went to jewelry stores first. They could hold them forever for all we cared."

"How many are from your earth?"

Xander shrugged. "At least twenty percent. There's a few demon realms that mine, and two that have dragons that drop stones. They're usually very shiny ones. They kinda lay them like eggs." They nodded at that. "One type of them poop the stones and those I don't usually like. They tend to be softer and need a treatment to get harder. They all check out as real stones, chemically and not, no matter where they're from. There's a few I get from an off-world source and they've got a difference. They have a version of a diamond that's really super shiny and hard. It's called an eternity stone. I have no idea how they break them because they can't really be cut like diamonds can. They won't cut themselves."

Dawn found one and held it up. Xander took it to look at and nodded. "Xander, this blue kinda sapphire looking one?"

He looked. "That's another off-world one. So's the green and red." She handed over those samples. "These are the off-world ones."

They looked at them. "Miss Summers, can we get your boss to run an analysis of these to test against our local composition?"

"Sure. JARVIS, can you ask Tony that?"

"I have and he said he's fascinated and wondering if those eternity stones can be used in laser applications."

"Can't be polished that I know of," Xander said. "So not real sure." They went back to looking at them while Dawn and Philip sorted. Tony showed up a few minutes later to look them over. "Somewhere in there I have the stuff the genius guy on Atlantis found when I showed them to him." Dawn found it in the bag and handed it over. They pulled out the rest of the clothes.

Tony looked over. "No wonder you can't just donate those. They won't take leather."

"No they won't. Or the dress pants. Actually a few of the donation places in Miami refuse to take them from me because I'm gay. One church because they heard I get weapons off the underground to keep them safely out of people's hands. They consider me evil."

Tony shook his head. "I won't comment on some people who feel self-important that way. Will we, Dawn?"

"I swore a lot about some of those sort," she quipped. "One of them tried to block me from donating to Dress For Success because I was me."

Their Xander shook his head. "Those sort annoy me to no end. One was trying to picket the temple. I sent the soldiers down to nag her about her delusions." He settled in to look over the bag. The rest of everything got pulled out because he found a spot that was starting to fray. Xander helped. They all moaned.

"Oh, Tony, prototype someone gave me that I have no idea what it does. I had someone send it to me." He handed it over with a grin. "All I know is that they *really* wanted it out of bad hands and our McKay is somewhere I can't give it to him, which is what I do with prototypes that might be dangerous. That's what I did with our various sonic nuclear bombs when I was taking them out of the bad hands."

He looked it over, nodding. "I can figure out what this does," he promised with a grin. "And it will be safe in my hands." He took all the samples with him to test in the lab and to go over that pretty launching weapon. It had a few missiles so he tested one on the usual Stark testing range in New Jersey. It turned out to launch and then shoot lasers from the little spikes it shot out. Tony's mouth hung open and he stared. "I need to improve that." He gathered them and took them home to look at how they did what they did. They could still discharge lightly, barely at taser strength, but the single beams before had destroyed buildings. He so needed something like this when he was younger. He needed to see if the people who made it there were designing weapons here to make sure they were with someone good.

Dawn smiled at Tony's text message of awe. "He said it's really hot and he wants to know who made it."

"I don't know. I've been asking." She nodded, texting that back to him. She showed him the testing video. "Wow. I need to find out a whole lot." He shook himself and got back to working on the dealing that he needed to do. Dawn could help him a lot and if they couldn't take them all, he'd go talk to book nerd, curse breaking Xander. He had to have good ties with Gringotts and could maybe help him too. That Xander might even have ideas of someone who could keep up with him too. Because he desperately needed a boyfriend with stamina. Though, he did keep himself from drooling all over Dawn's husband. He was absolutely adorable!

***

Dawn smiled as she sat down behind her desk for the first day back at work. Beya was back from vacation and had the girls since they had teething fevers. Philip was in daycare playing with Chris. She had a few things they had to make plans for. Natasha was ignoring all her suggestions that they talk about school. Clint wasn't sure how one picked a school beyond signing their kid up for the public schools. Which Dawn was not tolerating. Maybe if they were in North Dakota, somewhere kids in kindergarten didn't feel the need to be armed.... But not in New York City. Or LA. She grinned as one of her contacts came off the elevator. "Got the final paperwork for Xander?"

"I do. Our head board wasn't sure if we should but I explained why and they said it was uncommon but hopefully wouldn't become an issue?"

"I think whatever doesn't come out here is going to another Xander that's a curse breaker and he can use his contacts on some."

"That'll probably help." She handed over the folder. Dawn looked them over and got Xander up from looking over the baby goat.

"They've been feeding it way too much. She's getting fat," Xander said as he joined them with a grin.

"They might try to breed her with a human standard goat," Dawn said.

"I'm not sure if you can or not." He shook his head quickly. "Human parent's smaller size, Mommy's mouth and teeth?"

"Maybe," Dawn agreed. She let him have the forms after looking them over. She pointed at one clause for him. "That one's a bit odd."

Xander looked at her. "Twenty percent?"

"We might negotiate down."

Xander shrugged and signed it, handing it back. "I won over sixty mil at poker last year."

"Please don't teach Dawn that habit," Pepper called from her desk.

Dawn grinned at her then at Xander. "I only play kitten poker but I'm pretty darn good at it."

He hugged her. "I can teach you." He shook the other lady's hand and they went to arrange things. "What about the clothes?"

"Well, I've got them at the dry cleaner, as you know. I told them you had a hormone problem and were donating them so they had to make sure they were clean of all sweaty stuff." He smiled at her for that. "The leather stuff.... there's a few places in LA. Connor's talking to them for me with Faith."

"I like Faith."

"We like Faith too." Xander grinned at her. "The rest, I can get with our Salvation Army contacts and Dress For Success the suitier things." He nodded. "So we'll figure it out."

"That's great, Dawn. Thank you!" He hugged her. "No little guys?"

"Beya's got the girls because they have teething fevers. Philip's down in daycare with Tony's son."

"Cool. Think he'd mind?"

"No, go read to the guys." He grinned and went to do that. She sent a text message to Tony saying she had given Xander permission to go read to the boys. And that the goat was getting fat but he wasn't sure about crossbreeding. He sent back a 'fine, and we can test that'. Dawn smiled at the researcher progress report on the goat that got delivered to her by Linda, who was doing her lab rounds today. "Thanks, Linda."

"Welcome, Dawn."

Dawn read over it, copying it for Xander. He'd get a kick out of that. She sent a note to them that she had given Xander a copy of the preliminary report in case they had more baby goats come into being. They said that was fine if Stark didn't mind. He said he didn't so that was even better. Dawn sent them in to Pepper on a summoned Roomba and it was good.

Pepper burst out laughing, coming out. "They named the baby goat after Natasha?"

"Yup." They shared a grin. "She probably would kill whoever was trying to mate with her like a black widow spider."

"Awww." Pepper went to tell Tony that. He got a kick out of it too. Natasha would probably pout but that was okay.

***

Dawn limped in that night and laid down with a sigh. "I forgot how hard I worked even when I didn't move from my desk."

Clint handed Philip a bottle of water and pointed. He carried it over. "Here, Mommy."

"Thanks, Philip. Did you guys have fun playing with Xander?"

Philip gave her an evil smirk. "Whole lots. He even told us how he made his hairpins." He beamed and hugged her. "You rest. We make dinner."

"Okay. Thank you and Daddy." She smiled at Clint, who grinned back. "Where do you want to go to school?"

"With Chris?"

"Chris is being home schooled and we don't have the time to do that with you, kiddo. If I could I would." She sipped her water. "Get Mommy the big yellow book." She pointed. "Not the phone book, the other one." He brought it over. She turned to the page of schools that listed kindergartens. "This is all the schools we have to pick from. Most of them you're within limits since your birthday's after the cutoff date. We have three months to pick and do applications."

Philip took that to his father to show him. "Whole lots, Daddy."

He looked. "There are a lot. Waiting lists?"

"Already crossed out." She sipped more of her water. Natasha came off the elevator pouting. "What happened? Did you miss a target?"

"They named that goat after me."

"Natasha, the thing's cutely deadly," Dawn quipped with a smile. "It was being adored and bit a finger off. They gave it a good name."

"I'm not cute."

"No, you're adorable because you're an adult," she said with a smile. "Feel honored. You were the most deadly thing they could name it after."

She shivered and kissed Dawn. "Nauseous again?"

"Elevators again." She finished her water. "Help Clint pick schools to visit." Natasha grimaced. "We have three months. If he's not in a decent one, he can't get into a decent middle school or high school." Clint winced. "He's got a school fund."

"Good!" Clint agreed. "One's twenty-five thousand a semester! It's not marked off."

"They have a very short waiting list and it's a decent school academically. A lot of kids go there for the name recognition. It's not on my preferred list. Siton is." He looked at that one then at her. "Good school, has distance learning if we're on the other coast. It's three blocks from SHIELD so you can bring him in the morning and we can figure out picking him up. Chris, if he's going to a normal school, would probably like that one."

"Want to go with Chris," Philip whined.

Dawn stared at him. "I don't have the time off to teach you like Uncle Tony did with Callia and Liz, Philip. If I did I would. You'd have already been taking classes." Philip pouted at his favorite mommy, who hugged him.

"Are there any cheap, good schools?" Clint asked.

"Two catholic ones," she said dryly. "They're both ten a year." Clint shuddered. "The cheapest of the cheap, the ones above city public future prison centers, don't get you into better middle or high schools unless you pass a huge test and then that's at the genius level."

Clint grimaced. "Can we home school?"

"Sure, if one of you quit," Dawn quipped with a smile.

"Can't," he muttered. "Which ones do SHIELD kids go to?"

"None of those. Most of them are home schooled."

"Fuck," he mouthed. He looked them over again. "Why Siton?"

"They have a good general education. They're a bit pushy but not too pushy. They accept kids who are multi-lingual and offer language courses in second grade if you want them. They still have recess. They have on-site security teams, real ones not rent a cop ones. They're close to your work. Our daycare can pick them up after school."

Clint flipped back to their page and went back to stirring the pasta he was working on. "They've got pretty decent B level ratings."

"The A level are the hugely expensive," Dawn reminded him. "Half of those are on name recognition, not on test scores."

He looked at that category. "Still B range but higher B range." He flipped back to look at the A level range schools. They were all a lot more expensive, usually farther away, and the kids in their pictures were clearly on drugs. They looked maniacally happy in the wrong way. "What's this note you wrote in?"

Dawn looked at it when Natasha handed it over. "Oh, they often send to a high school that has an evil genius track." She handed it back. Both spies stared at her. "Seriously. Of the 'so you want to take over a corporation and then the world' sort. They're good. Jamira, the new hostile takeover CEO at the tech company in the Hamptons? She went there. Her senior project was to take over that company in the hostile manner. I heard she got a B because she had problems with it and they tried to fight her."

Clint's mouth opened. He finally texted Maria Hill to see if she knew about that. She laughed until she looked it up then thanked him for giving them a new list to start. Dawn smirked at him. "You know that assistant Doom has, the one that's been with him for ten years and he never even tries to kill? She went there. Her senior project was to try to overthrow him from what I heard. He was amused and took her in when she nearly managed it." Clint typed that at Hill. She looked it up and ramped up their threat profile. Dawn smiled. "So we don't want him to go there."

"No, we don't," Clint agreed, hugging his son. "You're normally evil, not evil that way." His son beamed.

"I should see if any of them want to become agents," Natasha said. "We could channel that into undercover operatives." She texted that to Maria, who said that was mean but a socially acceptable use for their skills. "What about where Callia's going?" Natasha asked.

"Long Island," Dawn countered. Natasha grimaced. "Yeah! Someone's going to end up commuting."

"Damn," Clint muttered. "Stark needs to start a school." He sent that at him. Stark sent back that they had a little over a year before he started. He let Dawn answer that since he had no idea about birthday cutoffs and the like. He looked at the list. "Let's interview anyone B and up?"

"That's sixty-two schools," Natasha noted. "Do we have time for that? Even within a few week timeline?"

"No," he admitted. He looked and ranked them, crossing some out. He left Dawn's even though it fell outside of his limits. "Is he on any lists?"

"Yes. He's on two lists," Dawn said, getting up slowly and carefully to come point them out. "He has not a hope in hell of passing on either since I've just learned that their new headmasters hate kids who are multi-lingual even if the parents are for work purposes."

"Hmm." Clint crossed them out. Dawn uncrossed one and crossed out one of his choices. "Why?"

"Upper crust Klan breeding ground. Every now and then you see the blonde twins on tv that are going off about immigrants doing good in the real world of business? They go there."

He nodded, doubly crossing them out. "Okay. The one where the kids went to daycare? It's creepy but Tara seemed to like it." Dawn pointed. "Tara's choice?"

"No openings in his year. They cut down admissions and quit taking applications last year." She crossed out a few more. "Those don't either. Not even a waiting list. We're at least a year too late on them." That narrowed it down to twelve.

"We can visit all twelve," he decided. "And move backwards if we have to while adding to his fund." Dawn nodded, tasting the pasta and draining it. He took over, kissing her. "Go sit down." She smiled and did that. She had tried to set the table last night and nearly broken all the glasses when she had a dizzy fit.

"We are not on call this week," Natasha said.

"You're welcome," Dawn quipped. "They all have nighttime tours."

Clint nodded. "Any that'll hate us for our job or yours?"

"One still on the list. Unfortunately the one I like." They nodded and got down to finishing dinner. Philip was hungry, he was sucking on Natasha's wrist while he watched his father make the sauce.

***

Tony looked over at Dawn the next morning. She was wearing something wild. "Did you go on safari?" he demanded, staring at her.

She looked at herself then at him. "Mini witch on the street who laughed hard and had her mother paddle her." She went to the bathroom and came out in her normal clothes. "I needed a mirror to make sure I got all of it." She settled into her seat. "We're interviewing schools this week."

"I remember the 'you should start a school' complaint."

"We have twelve on the list to look at and we'll move backward if we have to."

Tony grimaced. "Why?"

"Closed lists in some cases. If I was willing to pay fifteen grand a semester I have an automatic in with one school. Steph, remember her?" He nodded. "Her daughter goes there and she said she'd write Philip a recommendation."

He blinked. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad hers is reasonable." He walked off shaking his head. Maybe he should start a home school program for the kids. "Hey, Dawn, don't you need projects for your PhD?"

"I've already got the diss done and I'm having it formally proofread by someone."

"Really?" he asked. "I could."

"You're busy. You have that expo in ten months, boss."

He huffed but went to look over those things. He could get a copy of her dissertation to look over. Someone in his people was proofreading it for her so that was nice. He read it over, making his own notes. Dawn really needed to create an educational model for them. He went to talk to her about it. She had no idea how she'd do that. He talked her into giving him a list of ideas and books. That she might be able to do.

***

Xander showed up in the middle of Dawn being in a battle. He frowned and called artillery, using it against the giant robotic pandas. "Did they watch the wrong movie?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Apparently." She was holding her head. "I'm going to puke soon. Can you cover for me?" He nodded and threw a pretty spell that made all the pandas burn. She puked and he helped clean things up. Stark flew up and landed. "I'm okay," she said, flapping a hand.

"As shown by the contents of lunch coming up," he shot back. "Hey, Xander."

"Hi, Mr. Stark."

"Tony, Xander." Xander grinned at him. He looked around. "Barton's at the other site. There he is. Cross, get her back to her desk please." He nodded, coming up to get her with Xander. He flew back down to Cap's side. "Dawn's going back to her desk."

"That's fine. Who was that?"

"Another Xander from another realm." He sounded smug. "He had to get some Dawn help." Tony flew off to check on the other battle with the giant robotic pandas that liked to step on people.

Cap looked around. "Let me hit the other site." The SHIELD agents helping them nodded so he went that way.

***

Dawn flopped down. "Thanks, guys. Aaron, this is not our Xander but a Xander."

"Hi." He smiled and shook his hand. "You look like Clint, family?"

"Kinda." He smiled. "You're not godly, right? He's a bit...bouncy."

"He is," Xander agreed with a grin. "So am I."

"You need new boyfriend," Dawn said in Latin, staring at him. He nodded that was true. "Aaron, do you know anyone who might like to have dinner with Xander? He needs a new boyfriend."

"Not right off the top of my head but I'll see. I don't know too many people." Xander was blushing. He grinned. "Let's go look at your baby goat? I heard things about it."

"Sure." He walked him down there, talking about his pets.

Dawn took some nausea medicine and relaxed. That helped and she could take off her shoes. Her shoes made her really dizzy. When Benji showed up to scowl at her she hugged him and introduced him to Xander too. Xander grinned and shook his hand, charming him. They talked about his animals and Aaron fussed over Dawn until Clint got there. She always fussed over any injury he had so he could quietly hover and make sure she had some nicely cold water and what she needed so she quit throwing up. He smiled when Benji and Xander went out to dinner. He and Dawn shared a smile and she got back to work while he watched over her.

Clint came off the elevator, kissing Dawn on the head. "Benji and Xander are having a good laugh together."

"They're cute."

Clint grinned. "Good. Benji could use some happies and so could that Xander. I would've shot his boyfriends for treating him that way." He kissed her for real. "Stomach?" She nodded. "That figures." He let her relax and get back to work, walking Aaron off to talk to him about how that battle had went. Ethan stomped up to them a few hours later while they were nibbling through dinner since Dawn was working late to go over a needed agreement that Linda hadn't gotten to that had to be done by the next day. "What's up, Ethan?"

"There's been three different arms dealers that have come up to Benji and that Xander," he complained. "Xander looked at them and said he was having dinner with someone so two of them said they'd see him tomorrow. The other tried to keep flirting so Xander said that he might have grown up lower class but he appreciated good manners. That one huffed off and might come back to kidnap him."

"Xander dates like Dawn used to. You remember the briefing I gave you on Dawn's dating problems?" Ethan growled but nodded. "That Xander has the same sort of problem only people kidnap him to try to own him due to his hormones."

"Does Dawn have that condition?"

"We've tested on their kits and no," Clint said dryly, eating a fry. "They just draw the same sort of guys. Are he and Benji having a good dinner?"

"If he dates like that....."

"No, that's the guys that like Xander. Xander likes them sweeter, more spoiling, and accepting spoiling. People who want to be there for him and with him, not just for his ass, money, or weapons." Ethan huffed but sat down. "He needs a guy like Benji all the time. One who wants to talk to him, to show him things, to be shown things, to do things. To play with him sometimes and to help him protect himself from the Xander butt wanting committee they have there. If there's a Benji in his realm I hope he goes to see if he's the same sort of nice."

Ethan frowned. "It's weird. Is our Xander like that?"

"You know he dated a thousand-year-old former vengeance demon, right?" Aaron quipped.

"Ours isn't as drawing of those sort but yeah. He's got a bit. That's why Dawn was so happy he found a mate in Phil, who was just as dangerous when he wants to be," Clint agreed. "We need to make sure that Xander isn't taken like he is at home. He's ruined a few realms that he's been taken to. And a few middle eastern palaces," Clint said. He considered it. "We really do have to step up security around him." His phone beeped. "Speaking of, there's Natasha." He read the email. "Aww, she picked up the kids for us." He went back to his dinner.

"You guys are insane," Aaron said.

"Nat needs some quiet time. Mira likes to hear her read." He grinned. "Dawn's doing a lot even though she can't really walk in shoes due to the dizziness."

"They make lower heeled shoes," Ethan complained.

"Not in Dawn's size," Clint said dryly. "We cannot find a single pair beyond the ones that fall apart while she's wearing them in Singapore or the stripper shoe company here."

"There's people that custom make shoes to fit your feet," Aaron said.

"For about nine hundred bucks a pair," Clint said. "Which Dawn says she is not paying."

"Dawn has buggering money to spare," Benji said as he and Xander walked up to their tables. Xander was smiling. He looked at Ethan. "Find a couch if me dating is going to upset you that way."

"Only the guys who came up to try to get you out of the picture," he said. "I'm happy if you're happy. But the only one who gets you shot is me."

"I'm not poaching, right?" Xander asked, looking at Benji.

"No, he's a bit possessive of his teammates. There's plenty that were wondering if he had taken up with a not-Barton too."

"Not me," Aaron said with a grin.

Xander smiled at him. "That's okay. I'm used to people doing screwy things. You haven't lived until you've been taken by a general to make you into his perfect little soldier that was also making zombies."

Clint looked at him. "I can't even imagine."

"He was special projects and working with some spooks I knew in Miami." He shrugged. "Can I move here?"

"Sure," Clint agreed with a grin. "As long as you're responsible and you make Dawn go shopping with you instead of me. I like shopping with her but I get frustrated too easily."

"I can do that. I need a new shopping buddy. Sam and Dean hate to go with me. Wade avoids it a lot." He looked at Benji. "I could bring the horses and the dogs and the Winchesters and maybe Clay's team because I'd miss Jensen and Cougar?"

"We have them here," Aaron said. "Xander had me break some of the trainees a few classes ago."

Xander beamed at him. "Really?" He looked at Benji. "I can find a way to displace the whole house for a few hours so I can move the bed."

Benji hugged him. "Let's figure out if you have more than another good friend." Xander pouted but nodded. Benji grinned. "You never know, I might go back with you for a good vacation. Could use one." He nudged Xander, who smiled and nodded, taking him to do something fun.

"That reminds me, I have to ask Dawn what she did with that money from the lawsuit," Clint said, eating another fry. His phone beeped with a text message so he looked at it. "No, Natasha, he's not a diva. He's your son," he said, calling her instead of texting back. "What happened?" He listened. "No, he's allowed to do that, Nat. Put him on. What did you want to do?" He listened. "Yes you can. Mommy and I applaud you doing that. Sure, you can have a girl bath for a while. Let her bathe the girls first and put them down. Then you can read in the tub like she does. You can't bring in her e-reader but you can bring in a kid book, Philip, or a few magazines."

He grinned. "Yes, you can have bubbles. Sure, hand the phone back. Love you too and I'll be home in about an hour, once I get your Mom from work. No, Linda, her new assistant, didn't get something done so she's got to do it tonight. She'll be done soon." He nibbled while Philip handed the phone back. "You taught him to like girl baths, Nat." Aaron was trying not to laugh. Clint smiled at him and Ethan. "He can bring in a few of the non-heirloom quality books or a few magazines and have bubbles, just like his favorite mommy does. And the other mommy too for that matter."

He listened. "He can use ours. I told him you had to get the girls down first. Sure, we should be there by the time you get them down for the next few hours." He hung up, tucking his phone back into his pocket and sending a thought at Dawn. Who yelled at Natasha for trying to make their son hate baths. He calmed them both down and repeated that his son was allowed to have a bubble bath, all kids had bubble baths sometimes. Then he let them go and told Dawn to tell him when she was done. He shook his head. "My son wanted a girl bath to read in and have bubbles."

"All kids like bubbles," Aaron said with a shrug.

Ethan nodded. "I remember having a few way back when."

Clint smirked. "No comment." He finished his dinner. They paid and went to pick up Dawn since she had to be nearly done. She had a few pages left to type but Clint waited by checking on the goat. And then having to go find the goat that had eaten through the food chute and gotten free.

Dawn tapped her phone's button to get the intercom. "People, the baby goat is free," she announced. "If you spot it, call security or Clint please. Before it eats someone." She hung up and got back to work. She winced when she heard Callia shriek. "Oh, not her pets," she muttered.

Clint came back with the Tony cat, who was purring while being petted. "The thing likes the cats. She was giving all five of the cats a ride and growling at Xander puppy. Who was barking at her." He handed him to Callia, who was following them.

"Thank you for saving them from the nibbing goat, Uncle Clint. I'd have to find out how they tasted if she had hurt my furry family." She rolled off with the cats. The dog was following her. She came off the elevator in the penthouse. "Daddy, you need to secure your goat better," she complained. "And I need a lab sooner so the cats don't go wandering around the general lab floor again. The goat liked to let them ride her," she said at Pepper's worried look. "It was going to eat my dog though."

"I'll make note of that," Tony said. "It might like MB's evil yellow puffball." He helped her calm down her pets with Chris and Liz.

Dawn smiled at Clint and finished her work in a few minutes. "I'll need to proofread it tomorrow." She locked her system after doing a backup and sticking that into her desk safe. She got helped up from her chair and leaned on Clint's arm, grinning at him. "Ethan, coming home with us? Aaron?"

"Sure," Aaron said. "Has to be better than cable tv." Dawn smiled. "Still dizzy?" She nodded. "Hopefully it'll be soon."

"When I first woke up I couldn't even blink," she said. "Now I can almost walk but don't stand in front of me in the elevator please." They wisely stood behind her. They were halfway to the garage when her phone beeped a warning. She sighed and hit the button to go back up. She came off and took her husband's gun - Natasha wasn't letting her carry one until she wasn't dizzy - and pointed it at the person in her desk. "Really?" He froze, blinking at her. She smiled. "Hi."

"Who're you?"

"You're in my desk and you don't know who I am?" she quipped with a smile. "Security to my desk before I make the maintenance guys repaint my walls please." They ran off the next elevator less than a minute later. "He asked me who I was and yet he's in my desk safe, guys." They nodded, taking him off. Dawn handed back the gun after clicking on the safety. She smiled and waved. "Don't worry, I have a frustrated wife who would probably *love* coming to see who you really are." He struggled but they carried him off. They went back down and Nat met them at the doorway. "The girls down?" she asked, taking a kiss.

"Yes. Coulson is there for ten minutes." Dawn nodded, letting Clint drive them home. Natasha went up to security to see that person. She stared at him. "I'm surprised Clint didn't remember you," she said. "Richard."

"Natasha," he said with a slight nod. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you worked for Stark. I thought you went corporate at SHIELD, not here."

"You just pissed off my wife and husband." The guy blinked. She smirked. "And I am with SHIELD. She's with Stark." He groaned. "Why were you getting into her desk safe?"

"She has information on a few people I need to know about." She stared at him, lounging in the doorway. "Truth!" he protested, holding up his hands.

Gamble leaned over Natasha's shoulder. "Where's my half-brother?"

"The house, Gamble." She called and Gamble's phone beeped with a text message. "She did a Fidelus with Xander."

Gamble blinked. "I thought the house was there. Thanks. Need help?"

Natasha stared at him. "Did you just ask me that?" He grinned. "Dawn's probably eating dinner while our son decides if he's going to read for a long time tonight in his bubble bath that his father is allowing him to have."

"Great." He went that way. The guy in the security cell/closet was laughing until he choked. She must've hit him. He ran into Barnes and nodded. "She's up talking to a spy sort in a closet."

"Aren't you wanted by the LAPD?" Bucky demanded.

Brian Gamble smiled at him. "So? I need my half-brother. I ran into one of his former posse." He jogged off. He saw a few photographers. "Not Clint, bitches. Stop it." They pouted and one huffed.

Barnes went up to Security, shaking his head. "Natasha?" She quit kissing him. "Dawn's going to make me watch her kill you."

"He started it." Her phone beeped with the message of 'he's a dead man' but it was from Clint's phone. She told him who it was. Clint reminded her he still owed him a bullet to the balls. She said he could come back and do that. Suddenly a magical bullet appeared and hit the guy in the balls. "Or you could have Dawn do it for you," she muttered. She shook her head, putting her phone back into her pocket. "He wanted information Dawn had on someone."

"She's probably got files on a few people he might want," Barnes said dryly. "I know I found one recently when she handed it to me." He stared at the writhing man. "Who did you want intel on?"

"That other Xander," he moaned. "Make it stop!"

"You're lucky she didn't use the digging bullet someone came up with. It slowly drills its way up to your heart," Natasha said with a smile. "She's got good aim for being constantly nauseous." The medical team showed up. "Clint said he owed him a bullet to the balls for a past grievance. One appeared."

"I love Dawn giving us work," Dr. Pigalli quipped with a grimace. "Nicely clean shot. You still have one ball, sir." They hauled him down to the infirmary. "Quit whining before I feed you to the goat."

Barnes looked at Natasha. "Other Xander?"

"One from another realm. Apparently his hormone condition makes people want to own him as a favored concubine."

"Oh." He nodded once. "Damn glad I don't have that."

"I still wonder if perhaps we missed a lighter version of that condition on Dawn and the children." She sighed and walked off, going to talk to her son about his love of bubble baths. "Any idea how to get my son out of his bubbles?"

"He got it from you," Bucky complained. He went to his apartment to bury his head under his pillow and not come out until New York had sense and Dawn wasn't dizzy. He could put up with her insanity but since she was sick it had spread to Natasha and Clint. Usually they were more resistant.

***

Benji walked up to Dawn's desk the next afternoon, smiling. "Did you not just receive a crap-sucking level of money?"

"A what?" Pepper called. She came to the doorway. "How are you feeling, Benji?"

"I'm mostly good. Still a few headaches now and then, Pepper," he said with a smile. "Xander, that one, and I worked out a scale of wealth last night. She's more than rich enough to pay someone to suck the crap from her butthole if she wanted to." Pepper burst out laughing. He looked at Dawn.

"I may or may not be, but some's went into things like the retirement account and investments. I just expanded the farms in Belgium and France. Plus given Craig a bit to play with."

"Uh-huh. Why do you stress over getting custom shoes made then?"

"Because I'm too practical to pay that much for shoes."

"Did I not get you the slippers when you were pregnant that helped tons?"

She held up a foot. "They still are. Thank you." She smiled.

"Hurry up. Pepper, can she have a lunch now?"

"She had a lunch but she's only on part time for the next few weeks due to her own head." She took Dawn's laptop to look at. "Why are you doing that? It's already done."

"It was done. I can't find it," Dawn said. "Or the one behind it."

She looked. "Both of those are on my desk, Dawn. I printed them out this morning on you." She went to make sure, letting her see them.

Dawn frowned. "I had hellish typos."

"I think Linda had typos. I'll correct it."

"They're nearly done. Benji, can you wait for twenty to chew on me for being practical?"

"Fine." He sat down with one of her fashion magazines. "What're you wearing to the gala?"

"Blue fire." He looked at her. She smiled. "I am."

"You'll spend tons on the dress and not the shoes?"

"Most of those custom made shoes look like grandma shoes."

"Not all. And don't argue or I'm kidnaping you to London to get some made." He stared at her. She blushed and ducked her head but got back to work. "Thank you." He looked at her. "You need to wear that one you wore to that dance right after the first battle here in New York. The one that they quipped about the evil coming up you."

"You can't rewear things as a woman. It's still in my closet but I don't fit it as well."

"Bullshit," he said.

She looked at him. "Did the surgery do that to you?"

"No, Ethan snoring does. Thankfully that Xander's snoring is cuter." He smiled. She grinned back and got back to work. She finished up and proofread it quickly, letting Pepper have her laptop. "Backup?"

"When I get back."

"I'll do it," Pepper promised. "Still in your desk safe?" Dawn smiled and nodded. "Okay. Go. Get her things she can wear, Benji." He nodded, walking Dawn out. "And take a driver, even if it is Happy."

"Yes, ma'am," Benji quipped. "Always ready to be spoiled some on someone else's dime."

Dawn leaned on him in the elevator, closing her eyes. "I want this part of the nausea to stop sooner than the rest."

"We all hope that. You look bad in that shade of green." She patted her hand as they came out of the elevator. "Deep breath. Air outside stinks like farts again today thanks to New Jersey."

The security team on the front door made them pause. "Miss Summers, Mr. Stark just called looking for you."

She smiled. "Thanks." She called. "Tony? Benji's making me shop. Did you need something?"

"Shop for what?" he complained.

"Shoes," Benji said.

"I didn't know you were that sort of guy, Benji."

"I'm making her buy special shoes, with lower heels that're made to fit her feet," he quipped back with an evil smirk at the phone.

"Great. We'd like her to have some businessy looking flats and very low heels so she didn't trip like a bimbo."

"Hey," she complained. "I tripped over a Roomba. The security guys on the door said you wanted a call, boss?"

"Yeah, two things. NYPD wants us to stay away from the picketing they're doing downtown."

"Why would I be involved unless it's about me or the kids?"

"It's 'kick all the Avengers back to the west coast'," Tony complained. "Second thing, where is my idea notebook? I can't find a thing."

"Liz was coloring in it the last I knew."

"LIZ!" he shouted. Dawn winced and hung up on him.

Benji grimaced. "We can go 'round 'em." He got her into the car he had waiting and to the shops he had picked out. "We're going to look at a few. You can get some from each or not." Dawn nodded, pulling up information and transferring it into her main shopping account. "Blue fire?"

"Yup." She smiled. "I'll look great."

"You usually look good, except in that nauseous shade of green." She poked him on the arm. He smirked at her. "You do."

"So I take it the date was good?"

"It was real good." He smiled. "That other Xander's a really nice guy. Needs someone who wants to be a real boyfriend. He was even thinking about moving here for a bit."

"That means I'd have a shopping buddy beyond Pepper and the girls."

"Probably so." They were stopped and forced to go around a police barricade. "I didn't think they were this far out."

"They're probably driving them away from City Hall," Dawn sighed, slumping down some. "Those same people will scream about us not saving them if something happens. One of the bigger pains in the butt about these demonstrations is one who tried to sue us for her not taking cover. She wasn't injured, just scared. A few tried to sue because they were injured and a few because they had someone die, but she sued because she stood there on the street and watched."

Benji shook his head. "People like that get what they deserve then. Them bothering you about it is stupid."

"Yup." They paused at one of the shoemakers and they went inside. Dawn smiled. "My friend is talking me into custom made shoes."

"Orthotic problem, ma'am?" she asked with a smile.

"Really narrow feet. I have toothpicks instead of feet."

The saleslady smiled. "We usually do the orthotics."

"Do you think one would help me fit into a regular size shoe?"

"Probably not very well," she said, going to get the shoemaker. She knew that he wouldn't want to, he hated the Avengers being in New York. They had damaged the shop during the first battle.

He smiled at Dawn. "Orthotics question?"

Dawn took off her shoe and he winced. "Really narrow, can't find a thing. Plus really dizzy right now due to a concussion. Could an orthotic help me fit into a regular size since you guys don't custom make shoes?"

"Increasing the width would probably throw your balance and weight off," he admitted. "Usually they're used to correct weight distribution and limping problems."

"Okay. Thank you for your time." She smiled and shook their hands before going back to the car.

Benji shrugged. "They said they custom made them." Dawn smiled at him. The next one did do regular custom making work. Dawn looked at the styles they had on show. Nothing that was fancy but nice enough. He nudged Dawn.

Dawn smiled. "I have tiny feet."

"That happens to the best of us," the salesman said with a smile. "Short or narrow?"

"Narrow." She sat down and took off one of the ballet slippers. "I've found some in Singapore but they fell apart as I wore them. Or I have one company that makes stripper shoes. With my recent concussion I'm really dizzy. I need flats. Or really low heels. Dressy and businessy but I have two formal events coming up."

"Okay," he said, getting what he needed to measure her foot. "That is really narrow." He smiled and got a few styles to show her. "They're fairly subtle."

Dawn pointed. "I have a pair like that but they're six inch heels. I can't wear them when I'm dizzy."

He nodded. "I'm not sure how you wear them most of the time." She smiled. He put it next to her foot. "It's fairly subtle and a bit dressy. We can make them in a variety of colors. We also have more strappy ones." He showed her those. "The others are a bit more...matron than your age." Dawn smiled at him for that, looking at the strappy ones. "We also have a line of flats and a line of low heel loafer styles." He let her see those. "We make all leather shoes." She nodded. "Hand make."

"I figured they were going to be expensive. How long would it take? Say a daily pair and one for the dressier event in a month?"

"That might be pushing it. We can make you two pairs within a month but if it needs to be too dressy it'll take extra time."

"My dress is blue. Blue fire as the designer described it."

He smiled. "Sounds pretty." He wrote down a name. "They do custom fancy wedding and dressy shoes for those sort of times." She smiled and handed that to Benji so he could plan that. "Her spouse?" he asked.

"Sensible friend. I'm the one who got her the ballet slippers when she was preggers the first time."

"That's not a bad idea. Probably very comfortable."

"And made for toothpick feet," Dawn agreed. He smiled. She picked out a few styles and the colors. They could get her a few each month for the next few. She only winced a bit at the cost but they were very good. They took the impression of her foot, then a casting of it. The head shoemaker came out of the back to make sure they got it exactly right. With that big of an order they needed to get it perfect. They promised to get her some within three weeks and she smiled and shook hands, letting Benji take her back to the car once she had on the ballet slippers. They went to the next store. Dawn smiled at them as they walked in. "I need heels for a gala."

"Okay," the saleswoman said with a smile. "Though I'd have to warn you that my boss isn't really happy with yours. One of those alien things broke his car."

"Shoot," Dawn said. "And I was going to spend large today. Anyone else who can custom make dressy shoes?"

"We can. Let me talk to him." She went into the back. "The perky brunette wife of that archer and the assassin Avenger is here." He winced. "Going to spend large on dressier shoes."

"Is it an orthotic or prescription?"

"No. Not from what she's said. I warned her you weren't happy about her boss."

"At least the insurance paid." He came out. "What sort of problem are you having?"

"Right now I'm having dizziness from a concussion and I have hugely narrow feet." She stuck one out. "I have a gala in a month so I'd need heels I won't fall off of. So far that's meant a stripper shoe company. Usually four to six inch stilettoes."

He blinked. "How do you walk in those?"

"I had to learn. I can't find sneakers that fit, much less nicer dress shoes."

"Sure, we can do that. I'm not as mad that the aliens broke my car."

Dawn smiled. "Mine too." He smiled. "We tried."

"I know." He sat her down to measure her feet. "I see some ink."

"I was at the one about six blocks over and he suggested you for the dress shoes."

"I can easily do them. What sort of heels do you like?"

"I'd like some of the thicker, not the chunky but the french heels I think they were called. With the kinda curved inside?"

"Those are called french heels," he agreed. "They can be done very prettily."

She smiled. "I have a gala in a month for them honoring Callia. I'm wearing a blue dress. He called it blue fire." She showed him a picture of it in her phone.

"Hmm. Want a darker blue or a black?"

"I was going to wear either navy or silver, I hadn't decided yet."

"Navy," Benji said. He looked at the dress. "Silver might go." He blinked. "It needs fitted."

"The tailor has it. All my clothes have to be tailored, Benji. If they fit my shoulders or my chest it doesn't fit anything else." She looked at the shoemaker. "I'm just funny all over." He smiled. "Medium blue?"

He got his sample book. "I can dye them any of these."

She tapped a blue. "That one?"

"That might look good. How many were you going to be ordering?"

"At least seven pairs total. My next one is about a month after that, where Pepper's being honored, and I'm wearing black and green." He nodded. "I need black but with the way that dress is I'd overpower the green and look chunky so I'd have to get green or a nude with that one. I'm figuring the standard colors for my usual wardrobe."

"That's not a bad plan." He took her measurement and they went over heel height and width. Dawn had a bit of trouble with the chunkier heels. She wobbled and it made her look like she had on stripper shoes. So the thinner but still substantial french heels and all around three inches, plus inserts to help ease the foot pain she'd have adjusting to the lower height. He also talked her into some nice flats that were different than the more loafer looking ones the other store had. She ended up buying fifteen pairs of shoes. They talked about when she needed them and he agreed that would be easy enough to get the first few to her by that gala. She smiled and shook his hand once they had paid and they went to see the tailor. Benji demanded. He looked at his salesgirl. "She's actually very nice."

"She is," she agreed with a smile. "And fashionable."

"Very. But wants comfort so she's practical."

"She's said before she didn't want to spend a ton on shoes."

"That figures. Most people don't, but it makes them feel a lot better when they do." He went back to get started. Girls like Dawn could also be free advertising when they asked what she was wearing. So that was good for his business. He could mourn his car some other time.

***

Benji walked Dawn into their apartment, her carrying a dress bag. "I made her get custom shoes." Natasha kissed him on the cheek as she walked past him. He grinned at her. "Thank you."

"No, thank you. Does that mean we can put the other ones in the clubbing closet?" Clint asked.

"For now," Dawn said. "Not for good, dear."

"Fine." He smiled. "What's that?"

"Scientific gala and Pepper's award dinner." She put them up and closed the closet door, coming back out to kiss Clint. He moaned and grabbed her hips. She heard the giggle and smiled at Philip and Chris. "Hi, boys."

"Hi, Mommy."

"Hi, Auntie." Chris looked at her. "Are you going to be more pretty than Callia at the gala?"

"Nope. I'll look spectacular behind her and she can use me to shield herself when she feels tired." He grinned and they went back to their books.

"Is this like the evil dress?" Clint asked.

"Less evil than that dress." She smiled. "If I had a way I'd rewear that."

He shivered. "Your body's changed some. You'd look even more sexy in it."

"Or I'd fall out of it."

"Could be," he teased, taking another kiss. "How high are these?"

"Some flats and three inches."

"Wow. Low for you," he said, getting a smile and a swat. He smiled. "Am I making dinner?"

"I can if you want."

"No, I'll make dinner." He winked. "Go sit down and go over clothes with your son?"

"Sure. C'mon, son." He and Chris came over to go over clothes. Dawn had to clean out her closets then they had to plan some shopping trips.

Benji looked at him. "Another anti-Avenger protest today," he said quietly. "Two of the shoe shops didn't want to work with her because of it. One gave in because she bought fifteen pairs of shoes." Clint winced. "She needed 'em."

"Yeah, she does." He leaned on the counter. "I don't know, Benji. Those sort piss us the fuck off most of the time," he said quietly, glancing at the bedroom then at him again. "They yell and scream about us being there to save them but the first time something happens they're the first to hide behind us and demand we save 'em."

"I know." He came over to the kitchen bar to sit down. "So what'll you do?"

"I don't know. If this keeps up I'd almost like to go back to LA to work. Let the new team we're forming hit here. LA's safer, even if there is a push to get the bad guys to quit attacking the cities."

"Could help," he agreed.

"I'm all for it. If the bad guys would quit attacking the city we'd all like it. None of us like civilians getting nearby." He walked over to close the curtains. Which made Mira mad. She huffed at him. "Dear, there's a reporter across the street with a camera," he said. He went back to the kitchen. "I don't know," he admitted. "Joyce and Cap are a lot more subtle and polite to those sort than Fury was. Fury would've told them to suck it up and move."

"I can imagine that, yeah." He looked at him. "Then what?"

"We have the great house in LA. We have the great house in North Dakota. Dawn has her alternate identity for safety reasons and the farms there." Benji smiled and nodded. "I don't know. It's not my job to solve it so all I can do is watch and bitch."

Dawn came out to kiss him. "The reporter over there can almost read lips. He's already saying you told the city to suck it up."

He shook his head. "I said Fury would've said that."

Dawn wrote down what she had heard and he added a few points. Dawn faxed it to someone and went back to her closet and the boys admiring her suits. She smiled because Chris was trying on one of her dresses and doing a pretty good job of tucking it around himself to make it fit. She took a picture and called Clint, who came in to hug him and praise his good fitting job. He smiled and finished. Dawn took two pictures this time, one for Tony. Clint went back to talking to Benji.

***

Tony looked at his phone. He and Pepper were going over the latest protest march going on. He laughed. "Our son is flirty." He showed her.

She smiled. He did a great job tucking it around himself to make it hang right." She grinned at Tony. "You're flirty too."

"He is getting it naturally, yes." He sent a message then looked at her. "What're we going to do, Pepper?"

"We're going to keep going. Something bad is going to happen because of this but it's nothing we can stop or help happening."

He nodded. "I know. I hate it but it's the law of karma."

"Then they shouldn't be the people that run behind you at the drop of trouble."

He nodded. "They shouldn't." He sighed and relaxed. "Why is Chris over there?"

"He went to play with Philip since he was home today."

"I had Dawn come up with a curriculum for us."

"She's good at coming up with educational ideas. How is Philip's school hunt going?"

"Not good. Clint complained that one thought Dawn was snooping in their educational methods. She pointed out Philip had already went through two of those books and she was checking to see where they were headed after that. The teacher got huffy. That was even Dawn's choice." Pepper winced. "They think they have two they're applying to and another four to visit."

"That's a good average. They waited way too long."

"If Callia's school had a distance learning kindergarten," he offered.

"I know." Her desk phone rang. "Virginia Potts," she answered. She listened and winced. "Have NYPD remove them. Thank you." She hung up to call Dawn. "What did Clint say?" Her fax went off. She looked at it. "No, that's not why they're protesting. No, you stay there and keep Chris." She hung up and handed it to Tony. "Someone misread his lips."

"Great." He read it. "Fury would've yes." He sent that to Steve with a comment about the argument outside. He went down there. He found a few reporters and kicked one on the ass. "Didn't I kick you off Stark property for life last year?" He ran. He pointed at one of them, who glared at him. "The reporter who sent that misread his lips." He held it up. "Transcript?" She snatched it to read and huffed.

"You guys should be really damn grateful that we didn't let Fury handle it since the people above him wanted to nuke Manhattan." She stared, mouth open in shock. "We handled it against orders. Fury was trying to buy us time but one still launched. I should know, I carried it up through their nifty little portal." He stared down at her. "You're not going to solve anything by this. We're here to protect you even if you don't like it. They don't attack New York because we're here. We're here because they attack New York."

"You could draw them away."

"Not really. They attack New York. How do you want us to draw off those giant robots that've been the last few attacks? They shipped them here because if they can take over New York, it's a pretty good sign they can take over the rest of the US. Same as the Trade Towers. We're a city that doesn't cow and doesn't bend easily." She huffed at him. "We'd all adore it if they would attack somewhere else. Hell, if someone would take over some little poor country somewhere in Africa or Central America and make it purely a war zone we'd all enjoy that.

"They could have moderators, get a tourism industry, hell, build training and housing barracks they charge various warring parties to use. It could kick start someone's economy down there. Or one of the tiny provinces in Asia could. Maybe one of the smaller islands in Malaysia. They have a ton of them that barely have any people. But the bad guys aren't going to do that. We all, every single Avenger and adjunct member, agreed that if they would take the battles elsewhere we'd all love it and go fight there. Go picket them to make them attack other places."

"But..." she said.

"No, no buts. This isn't our doing. We react when things happen. We also all think it's pretty damn shitty that you guys protest us protecting you yet you run behind us at the first spot of trouble and then complain because we didn't protect you enough. We can't do both. We're heros, not Gumby. We're not that flexible." He stared at her. "A few of us have even started to wonder why in the hell we protect people at all because of people who do this shit to us. Now, get off Stark property please. I've got a headache. My daughter is having flashbacks. I do not need this and she really doesn't." They started to disperse. He turned and spotted Callia. "You, inside."

"I just wanted some air. I didn't realize they were doing this. Is this why Liz is having the meltdown?"

"Yeah." He patted her on the head. "It is." She nodded, going to help her sister.

"Not that one?" one of the reporters asked.

Tony looked at her. "What?"

"She's not the one having flashbacks?"

"No, Liz is. Which is extremely shitty for a five-year-old to go through." She nodded, walking off. Tony looked at the guards, who nodded they'd help. They called more to help them disperse calmly and quietly. He went up to calm down Liz. She was in a corner crying. He tapped her on the knee since they were drawn up for her to cry into. "Hey." She blinked at him. "C'mere." He pulled her closer. "People like that are stupid. It's not their fault they're dumb, they're being led. They're like sheep behind someone who has ideas. The one with ideas is a bad guy but the normal people aren't."

"The ones who got aunty?" she asked quietly, staring at him.

"No, those ones weren't sheep following a bad guy. They were bad guys following a bigger bad guy. It's unfortunate but sometimes people suck, Liz. I wish it wasn't so. I really wish you had never learned that lesson. No kid, of any age, should have to know that." He cuddled her. "I will not let them get you. If I have to, you can go back to LA. They're nicer out there."

"And have beach."

"And we have the beach," he agreed, smiling into her neck. "They're mostly gone."

Callia came off the elevator with a stuffed friend. "Here, took me a few minutes but you left him in Daddy's lab." Liz smiled and hugged her stuffed friend. "They're all gone, Liz. They'd never hurt you like they did Auntie Dawn. Ever. Because Daddy and I would destroy them and Grandma would back us up. Grandpa would get to complain a lot that she didn't leave the Hulk any." Liz smiled and hugged her too. "It's not good to worry. It gives you wrinkles. So quit stressing and talk to us about that." She nodded and hugged them both then went to find her mommy. She was on the phone so Liz went to look outside the front doors. Callia looked at her father. "That's what I thought too," she said quietly. "When I came off the elevator and saw them."

"I'd never let them get you either, Callia." He hugged her.

"I know, Dad. I also already knew that humanity sucked ass half the time. The epidemic of stupid needs to end." She rolled off to post something on her new livejournal. Her aunt was right, it was helping her to vent now and then. Especially about her lack of faith in humanity. "Dad! Someone's reporting they're talking to Liz." He hurried down to help her. She sighed and added that on top of her rant. This was really unfair to them. LA wouldn't be much better though. There were these sort out there too. She heard jet boots and looked. "Hi, Uncle Rhodey. Dad's out front with Liz," she called over the intercom. He nodded and landed out there.

***

Tony stomped outside, picking up Liz. "Weren't you going to stay inside?"

"She asked me why it looked like I had been crying," she said quietly. "She talks to Mommy. Is she a bad guy?"

"No, she's a reporter." Tony glared at her. "Who is an adult and knows not to talk to kids without their parents. Especially paranoid ones who have had their kids hurt." Rhodey landed. "Hey."

"I just heard about Cal. She good?"

"Trying to be." He shifted Liz. "Want to hug Uncle Rhodey?"

"Yes, but armor doesn't give good hugs so I'll wait," Liz said, staring at him. He smiled. "Why didn't you know?"

"I was on assignment in the middle of nowhere without news feeds." He took her to hold. "You okay? Why were you crying?"

"There were huge people here like who hurt Auntie Dawn," she said quietly. "They scared me. They were going to hurt Daddy and then us."

Tony had to swallow at that. "I'd never let them hurt you, Liz. If I had to kill every single person there to make sure they didn't hurt you, they'd be dead." She stared at him. He stared back. "That's what Daddies do. We protect our kids."

"Then you'd leave us and who would make us great Starks?"

"Did you listen to your sister when that was her argument about freezing me?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Great minds think alike?"

"Quite possibly." He took her back. "You never have to worry about someone hurting you if I'm around. Even if they kidnap you, I will be there as soon as possibly can to rescue you, and if I'm injured your aunt and uncles will come instead. Got it?" She nodded, cuddling his shoulder. "Good." He looked at Rhodey. "She's in the penthouse."

"Cool. Want me to bring her inside so you can chat?"

"I have no desire to talk to anyone. Because right now I'm not sure why in the hell I put on the suit in the first place." They walked upstairs. "Huge protest."

"What happened to her aunt?" Rhodey asked.

"You didn't see that? A church that hates Dawn for having magic used very thinly padded stones to give her a very severe concussion. To the point where it's been nearly two months and she's still dizzy." Rhodey stared at him. He nodded. "Today they had a 'Avengers leave the city' protest."

"You put on the suit so your kids wouldn't be hurt by their kind either," Rhodey said bluntly.

Tony nodded. "Maybe." They got off on the penthouse and Rhodey let the system take his suit from him. "Hey, you got a visitor," he said to Callia since she was curled up on the couch staring at the tv. She smiled weakly at him. "What's up? New cramp?" She nodded. "Let's see what I can do."

"Move, Tony. I'm better at these things." Rhodey gently probed her back, finding the cramp and easing it. She winced and teared up. "I know. Give it a few seconds to loosen." It did and she sighed in relief. "How many of those do you have?"

"I was doing my stretches." She pulled Liz down to cuddle her. "I get leg ones more often." She looked at her father. "I think I figured out the general principle of bridging over the damaged parts."

"You, me, Bruce, and Rodney will look it over."

"I have Andrew and Jonathan looking at my math."

"We can include them." She nodded, letting her uncle cuddle her for now. He smelled nice.

"If I had known, I would've been here sooner," Rhodey said. "I was on assignment in the middle of nowhere without news feeds."

She smiled. "It's okay. I'll get better and get out of the chair. Grandfather and Hammer are not right." Tony tipped her face up. "He sent me an email."

"I'm going to kill his ass," Tony said bluntly.

She smirked. "It was the idiot in Norway who sent the first one. He said now I'm ruined because of this. I'm apparently not pretty enough for his pedophile self."

"Fuck him too," Rhodey said, making Liz laugh. "Want me to punch 'em?"

"No. Dad's already hit them a few times where it hurts the most." She snuggled in.

Tony got up to get her tablet to get into the emails. He sent them to Steve and Joyce with a message saying he needed a subtle plan and response.

***

Joyce's email beeped. She was waiting on her testimony in congress. She tapped her fingers on the keypad then showed Steve, who had his own copy. "I get to hit him, right?"

"Go for it. I wouldn't stop."

"I'm not sure I will be." She heard them break up a loud argument and walked in, handing the handler/bailiff person the phone with that email pulled up. She hauled Justin Hammer up and punched him. "For telling my granddaughter she was ruined because her back was hurt by someone else. Being in a chair, even if she never gets out of it, doesn't ruin a person. It only makes them stronger. Especially a Summers woman." She handed the phone to one of the staring congress members. "I'll leave until it's my turn. I had to make myself known."

He handed the phone back. "I wouldn't have stopped. Is the other one that CEO?" She nodded, walking off. The congressman shared that with the others. They had a quiet talk and made a decision unanimously. They all glared at Hammer. "We were doubtful that your recent stint in prison shouldn't count toward your business having to be handed over because we consider you a threat to the US. Apparently we're not alone in that if even children know that." He stared. "Make sure when he leaves he is kept apart from SHIELD's co-heads," he ordered. "We'll be holding a hearing on threats to the US next week. We'll see you then," he said and banged the gavel.

"I have the right to see the evidence against me."

"You can do that next week," the head of the hearing stated. "Dismissed, Mr. Hammer." He huffed off. He heard him say something to Joyce, who clocked him again and knocked him into a wall and down it as he was unconscious. They were let in for their part of the hearing. "Clearly your daughter taught you something."

She smiled. "I dated a few Navy guys before I married the first time. They made sure none of their friends ever though I was weak." She sat down delicately. "I'm sorry for my reaction earlier. I should have waited until he was in the hallway."

"No, we liked it," another of the senators said. "I have a few guard dogs I'd have sicced on him."

Joyce smiled. "The real undoing should always be done by your own hand." He laughed and nodded. "I believe we are here over the budget?"

"We are and two questions have just been sent to me," one of the others said, looking at her. "About your predecessor."

"I was his assistant for a few years but I'm not sure of everything."

"I believe the Captain can answer them. These both come from Manhattan, which is outside my district but close enough this time." She pulled up a news feed on her phone, beaming it to the room's video. It was Tony Stark talking down to someone picketing his tower. She paused it after the announcement of the bomb. "Is that true, Captain?"

"The people who were above him, the World Security Council, did demand that he send in a bomb to stop that," Steve said. "He did try to stop them. He shot one of his own people as they took off in a jet, killing them. The other jet took off and that is what Tony Stark flew into that portal and released."

She stared at him. "So he disobeyed orders and you disobeyed orders...."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm quite proud I disobeyed that one."

"So am I, Captain." She stared at him. "Are they still over SHIELD?"

"No, after the mess with Romania, the agency was removed from under their ungentle fist," Joyce said. "That's when they got moved to their own agency. I was hired a few months after that."

The senator from New York nodded. "Is there such a plan still in place?"

"Not without us having cleared all civilians, ideally and realistically as possible," Steve said. "I'd never allow that unless it was the last ditch, save the universes issue. There have been plans in place for longer than I've been awake in case things went so bad that we had to evacuate humanity or the US. They stared with the SGC and people have added to it from there." The senator smiled. "Including us. We meet yearly now to upgrade those plans. That meeting is in a few weeks. I do not have them with me."

"We'd like to go over that meeting with you," she said.

"I can ask if we can invite a senate representative," Steve said. "It's usually held in the White House, ma'am. The last president insisted we hold it there instead of a restaurant in the midwest that served nice pies."

"Even better. I like that you're not being obtuse and hiding things."

"My job is the safety of the US and humanity, whether I'm at the helm of SHIELD or in my uniform. Acting behind smoke and mirrors the way Director Fury used to doesn't help that any. Though he did butt into the plans the SGC had made earlier."

"Good." She stared at her counterparts. "When is this meeting?"

Joyce pulled up her schedule to look up the date. "We have the eleventh of June." She looked at him then at Steve. "We had to change it back. O'Neill's having that knee surgery and he won't be out of the hospital during that normal time."

"I hadn't remembered that." He smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Welcome." She looked at them. They were penciling it in. "I have no idea how the president would decide who would come."

"We can tell him that," one said. "We have people who should hear on a few committees. They can go as our representative and tell the rest of us." He smiled at her. "So, your budget. This is your first budget defense so we'll be a bit nicer."

Joyce smiled. "That's good. I was hoping I wouldn't have to put out burning coals this year." She handed over their DVD. "This is our budget, actual for last year and projected for this year. I had my daughter hand us the template the IRS wanted them to use during their audits."

They looked it over. It was a good budget. The increase was based on inflation, price of gas, that sort of thing. They went over some of the smaller categories, which Joyce had sub-budgets for. They agreed with how they were running it. It was efficient, there was no paperwork backlog. There were reports ready about anything they wanted to know about, including a few classified things that they got told was classified and could not be shared in an open hearing. They agreed on that and handed back the DVD at the end, thanking them for their time. They left, going back to the office to have a drink and relax. Bruce was already mixing martinis for Joyce and him and a coffee with a pinch of rum for Steve.

There was a bouquet of roses on her desk from Tony and Callia. And one of poppies from Pepper, which delighted Steve.

***

Callia was going to PT the next day when a reporter rushed over. "You run me over and I'm going to beat you to death." The reporter paused, staring at her. "Well? Woke up in a shitty mood due to leg cramps, people, and you staring just makes me nervous and want weapons."

"Did Liz have a panic attack because of what happened to you?"

Callia stared at her for a moment then shook her head. "You either have short term memory loss or you're really near the patient zero level for the epidemic of the stupidity virus we have going around. Was there a crowd when I was shot?" She slowly shook her head. "Then who had the crowd that hurt them?" She got into the car and let Happy load her wheelchair then drive her off. "I swear to the goddess I need to thin that pack."

"Don't make vows like that," he ordered. "It might come true."

Callia snorted. "Is that a bad thing?"

"There's days I don't know," he admitted.

The reporter looked at her cameraman. "She was rude."

He looked at her over the camera. "Do you think maybe she was talking about Dawn's injury?" The reporter blinked and winced with a groan. "Yeah, I think so. Huge mob of idiots. Kind of the same." He walked off to pack it up for the day. He erased that interview after talking to the boss about it. He agreed, she was a carrier of the stupidity virus.

***

Clint brought Dawn lunch the next day, and the shoes he had picked up for her. "What're you doing?"

"I'm revising my stated 'shit list'." She smiled and kissed him. "Thank you for picking those up."

"I got the mail too. They didn't admit Philip." She sighed and nodded. She'd revise their list. "We'll figure it out." He took another kiss, smiling when she changed her shoes. He grinned. "Those are granny shoes."

"They're mostly comfortable." She took out the insoles and that helped. "There, even better." She put those into the box. "They formed those backwards."

"On purpose?"

"The Chitarui broke his car."

"Oh." He smiled. "Comfy?"

"Very comfy." She checked the other set. "Those'll go well with that dress." She put them into her bag and grinned. Clint smiled back.

"Daddy, why can't I go to school with Philip?" Chris complained as he and Tony came up the hall with food for lunch for Pepper.

"He's not been accepted anywhere yet," Dawn said dryly, getting back to work while eating. "I'm considering the implications of hiring a private tutor like in the old days."

Tony grinned. "Me too since his home schooling liaison wants him to do simple math right now. I can ask Callia's headmistress if she's got an idea." Chris smiled at him for that. He noticed the shoe box. "For the gala?" She showed him. "Very tasty and demure, Dawn," he said dryly.

"I'll be able to stand up in them, boss."

"Good. Are you going to be flashier than your niece?"

"In a more subtle way. I'm going for a different reason."

"I know." He patted her on the back. "Your niece can hide with you."

She smiled. "Of course she can." She looked at Chris. "You should get a tux."

"Eww. Can't I wear the pretty dress?"

"Nope," Tony said. "Wearing pretty dresses is only at home, kiddo." He took them into the office.

Dawn looked at Clint. "I could wear that one to the great alumni dinner in a few months. Or to the great dinner you owe me after my defense even if I don't make it."

He smiled. "I can do both those." She smiled. "You sure?"

"It might be too flashy and it is Callia's night. I might be a bit too bright for Pepper's honoring dinner too." She considered it.

Pepper came out to look at her. "Wear the dark blue for Callia's."

"I was going to wear the blue fire one."

She stared at her. "No. Actually, she might adore it to take attention off her." Dawn nodded. "Did she tell you to?"

"Yup."

"Hmm. No, wear the new navy blue one and wear the blue fire for the upcoming Ball." Dawn winced because she had forgotten that one. "Get something new for mine." Dawn showed her. "The concussion?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did buy them during it. I look nice."

Pepper hugged her. "Maybe." She smiled. "Clint, buy your wife something pretty for mine. Pretty and yet tasteful and not too showy. We want them to admire her brains."

"I can do that," he promised. Dawn smiled at him. "What ball? And the designers won't get mad, right?"

"No, mine aren't on loan," Dawn said. "Mine I buy. Starlets get those on loan, not assistants." He smirked. "The ball? The one we're all but required to go to?"

"The christmas one is months away, Dawn."

"The Mid-Summer one," she said, digging out the invitation.

He read it over, wincing. "I'll try but...."

"We know," she said. "If I have to I can go alone."

"That would look nice for it," Pepper said with a smile for her assistant. "Wear something more subtle to mine?"

"Yes, Pepper." She smiled and went back into the office to have lunch. Dawn started to look online, emailing a few personal shoppers. They knew her and her style. One came up with a new designer that was great. Dawn looked at their stuff and turned it down. For the next premiere. Not for the business dinner. They agreed and found her something suitable. She said she'd pop over after work to try it on. They agreed to have one ready. She finished lunch and her typing job that was due at two, proofreading it. Clint got up to kiss her again. She smiled. "I'll be home soon."

"Okay." He went home to wait on her to call.

Callia rolled up the hall. "Please wear something flashy to the award thingy for me. That way I can hide behind you."

"She can look great and not be flashy. It's your night, with two other kids," Pepper said, kissing her on the head when she rolled in.

"Actually, no," Callia said, handing over something. "That was sitting in my email when I came back."

Tony looked at it when Pepper's face turned into a stone mask. "Let me talk to someone, Callia." He went to call them. Personally call them from his office he never used. He held up the email, getting a nod. "Would you like to explain to me why you think she suddenly doesn't deserve it?"

"She's in a bed. I didn't think you wanted her noted."

"She's in a wheelchair," Tony said dryly. "Not in a hospital bed." He stared at him. "Even then, she still earned it. How dare you try this shit because she got attacked by someone who used to almost rival me." He stared at him.

"We thought you wouldn't want the publicity on her."

"And yet, there's still some very irritating photographers that have caught her on the way to PT. It's not like it's not well known."

"Adamus Stryker told us she was on life support."

"How would he know?" Tony sneered.

"You don't keep in touch with your godchild?"

"Not since I caught him at thirteen trying to molest and eight-year-old. Or didn't you wonder why he suddenly had a 'pill issue' and had to go to therapy?" The man blinked a few times. "His father thought that was less humiliating." He stared at him. "This still stinks."

"We'll reinstate her. We honestly didn't think she could show up."

"And yet three years ago you gave one kid's that had died in a car crash certificate to his mother."

He swallowed. Stark's cold stare meant his lines of bullshit were at an end because they were only digging him deeper. "You're a bit controversial right now, Tony," he said.

He stared at him. "I was when I gave up making weapons. Gee, now I do more for humanity and still put out some really fantastic things from the labs. Nothing showy like my father's flying car, though I think my son dug it out of storage." He stared at him. "I don't care if you like me being Iron Man or not. My daughter isn't in my shadow the way I was my father's. She's tried very hard not to be caught in that same trap. That's why she does things the way she does. Why she's even managed to start her own college fund so it doesn't count on my name." The man let out a subvocal whine. "I don't really care *who* thinks that she's really sucking off my genius vibe either. Maybe they should check the patent count. Now, do we all have to get pretty and show up?"

"Her mother...."

"Is kinda dead," Tony said dryly. "Dawn's sister died on Asgard years ago."

"Oh. I thought she was Pepper's."

"That's Liz. Callia's the oldest."

"Um.... Okay. Let us talk about it." He hung up.

"Watch me bomb all of you," he muttered, going to talk to his daughter. "So far they're full of shit and they're full of shit."

"I heard." She stared at him. "If I'm not noted, oh well," she said calmly. "And then I'll prove them wrong."

"Some people can't be proved wrong. They don't have the intelligence to realize they were stupid."

"True, and if they're in science, someone somewhere gave them a degree on someone's money." He smiled at her. "Hey, one less thing I have to go to. I can go to the ball instead."

"True, you can," he agreed. She smiled. "Dawn, you don't have to buy a dress for Callia's award. They've decided I'm *controversial* and talked to someone who's not even in science and I haven't seen since he was thirteen and I caught his hand down an eight-year-old's pants. They've decided she's too damaged to go up to get it."

"Fuck them and the bitch they rode in on when I blow their asses up for such discrimination. How fucking dare they!" she shouted. "I knew they were the old, white guy patrol but *really*! Tony, are you still a scientist?"

"Not anymore. I'm an engineer. Damned if I want to be part of them." He looked at her. "Let's call the guys and tinker with your new idea." She smiled and they called them. Bruce was already in the building. "Bruce, you might want to revoke your scientist's card."

"I heard the shouting." He stared at her. "Most of us aren't petty like that. We have administrators too." She smiled at him for that. He hugged her. "I heard you came up with neat new stuff." Rodney walked in with a thermos cup of coffee with Andrew and Jonathan behind him. "Rodney." He shook his hand.

"Bruce." He looked at her. "Are hugs hurting?"

"Only my lower back but fuck that shit. Gimme a hug. I could use one." He hugged her. She squeezed him back. She smiled at Andrew and Jonathan. "You don't have to get dressed up. They're revoking my award because dad's *controversial* and I'm handicapped at the moment."

"Excuse me?" Jonathan demanded. She nodded.

Rodney smirked. "Let me have a word with someone."

"Uncle Rodney, if you force it, it'll just get worse. I'm going to show them they're morons, if they're smart enough to realize it."

He smiled. "I still need to have a word with someone. I was looking forward to you getting an award I once won." He looked at Tony.

"Use my office. I have once." He smiled. "And they *claim* they talked to Adamus Stryker."

"He's not in science in any field. He's in drugs and children." He went to talk to them. "Good morning." He sipped his coffee.

"I recognize the office, Rodney, and we're talking about it."

"That's a good idea since I can discredit the whole board with your shitty cheating problems back in college." He took another sip. "I find Callia to be the heir I always thought I'd never have." He stared at him. "As she has seventeen patents as of this moment and another ten in hearings...." The man choked. "And we're working on a great version for number eighteen." He stared at him. "How dare you sully the scientific field this way," he said quietly and coldly. "Politics is not science. We should be above all that."

"He's dangerous!"

"He's no more dangerous than I am. Considering my present field work pertains to zero point modules...." He took another sip. The man shuddered. "She is my heir as well as Stark's, even though I had nothing to do with her conception."

"She'll never have the suit now," he sneered.

Rodney laughed. "She never wanted it. She's always stated she wanted to turn the old ones into mobile hospitals for animals and emergency situations." The man slumped. "Your abuse of your position to play politics disgusts many of us and I'm sure I can speak for a lot of us who should have and/or do have Nobels or nods." The man was shaking. "Now, we await word of the board's decision. Though she thinks you're smart enough to be proved wrong, I believe you sucked enough cock during your dissertation defense to get it on your back instead of on your work like the rest of us. I will be noting this to others. Especially at the big scientists awards next week." He hung up and called someone. "It's Dr. Rodney McKay, is he in?"

"He said he's busy, sir, and he never wants to speak to you again."

"That's great but his cousin is peddling his politics in exchange for grants." She sighed and went to ask him. He got transferred over. "Callia Stark."

"I heard she got injured and how."

"Your cousin just had the board declare that she wasn't getting an award. One she's more than earned. He actually cited her father being *dangerous* and told Stark he heard about her injury from Adamus Stryker."

The person on the other end snorted. "I doubt that. Have you talked to him?"

"Yes, I have. So has her father."

"I'll talk to them."

"I'm speaking at my award."

"Great." He smiled. "When are you going to put out your real work?"

"When it won't lead to a new arms race. I'm working on Zero Point Modules." The other man moaned in a way that showed he was turned on. Rodney smiled. "I made that same sound when I found one partially charged in Pegasus." He smirked. "Mine's too dangerous to get out. However, I am working with Stark, Banner, two of Stark's head minions, Callia, and sometimes Chris Stark to *tinker*."

"I've seen some of the plans for those from the patent people. She's good. Her stuff on her own is good. The stuff with whoever those two minions are is great."

"Andrew and Jonathan came from Sunnydale and wanted to help take over the world."

"So Stark took them in and helped them?"

"Indeed. They're the Roomba army people. Taught Callia lasers."

"Wonderful. The two young ones he brought to the last expo?" Rodney smiled and nodded. "Charming young men. Huh." He looked at him. "Keep it under ten minutes, do not be boring, do no preach."

Rodney tipped his head to the side. "The only goddess I know is a cruel one of Science," he said blandly. "I can praise her so maybe I'll get unstuck." The other man laughed and hung up. Rodney went back there. "Richard said hello."

"Great," Tony said. "Cal, want to go to the big kids awards?"

"Am I going to need a drink to get through it?"

"I usually do," Bruce admitted. He smiled at Rodney. "I heard."

"I am attaining more shiny pointlessness for my bookshelves," he agreed. "And making a speech." Callia smiled at him. "There's about to be a problem. I personally think the head of the young geniuses committee got his PhD on his knees instead of on his work. I swear that man sucked all his committee off to get it during his fifth or sixth attempt." He finished his coffee and got more. "No Dawn?" he asked when he found the coffeemaker empty. He made some. He was that talented.

"Concussion means she's still dizzy," Tony said. "She's getting better."

Rodney looked at him. "Did we look at her?"

"I emailed Carolyn. She said they didn't have anything that could help." He was gripping the table. Callia patted him until he let it go. "This has started off being a bad year."

She nodded. "But it'll get better. Just think, Chris and I will have our own lab space soon."

He kissed her on the head. "Yes you will. Even if we move back to Malibu full time."

"That's going to suck for Stepmom."

"He can run things from the west coast office." He heard an alarm start. "JARVIS? What is that?"

"Someone tried to breach the doors with a gun, sir. They have been stopped by Agent Romanoff, who is presently pressing her high heel down in the man's throat."

"Does she know him?"

"No. He was bearing a weapon and a card stating his love for Liz."

"Great," Tony muttered. "She's already got her aunt's dating problem." He shook his head quickly while Bruce laughed. "Laugh now but she had tons of problems." He took his coffee when Rodney handed it over. "Okay, Callia, lay it out for us."

She pulled up her ideas, which were suddenly colored. She huffed. "Liz!" She undid the coloring and Chris trying to fix her math. "He still hates symbols in math." She laid out the original. "There. I think I've gotten this issue here fixed." She pointed. "This is math I'm still tampering with instead of knowing." She looked at Rodney. "Which I think is your fault."

"I think it is too. I only see three math errors." He picked up the stylus to correct that, which threw it out of whack, but Tony and Bruce knew how to compensate. Andrew and Jonathan were working on the microcircuits part. After a few hours and another few pots of coffee Rodney stepped back to look at it. "This would work better as a larger energy bridge than a smaller one."

"But can we shrink it, make it work on the smaller pulses?" Callia asked.

"Perhaps but I think you just created a baby Stargate/Rainbow Bridge." Tony stared, stepping back to look at it. He nodded she had. "Huh," Rodney said, drinking his coffee. "Someone save this down multiple ways and print it so we can put in the patent now and then work on shrinking it to a personal size." Callia smiled. "Your name as well. It was your idea that started this and you did do much of the work." She beamed and wiggled, then cramped. Tony helped her with that and she calmed herself down. Rodney stared at her. "Months more of that but then it'll be lesser."

"I know. I'm working hard every day." They smiled at her. "And freaking stepmom out about the bikini issue now and then." Tony laughed and nodded. They got it saved down and printed out. She looked at them. "Is this going to math that none of us know?"

"We need a math person," Bruce agreed, looking at Rodney. "You and Stark are good but I got lost hours ago."

"Go ask my future mentor," Callia said.

They stared at her and Tony smiled. "I can do that." He looked at Rodney, hissing in his ear.

"He's worthy and a child prodigy in math." Bruce grinned, he knew who that was. "We can include him on the shrinking side definitely. I heard he was working on brain math as well so it could help his own work."

Callia called. "Doctor Epps, Callia Stark. I have a slight issue I want to ask you to look over for me, Dad, Uncle Rodney, Grandpa Bruce, and Andrew and Jonathan. We think it's in your field as well as ours. No, I'm working on a neuro bridge. No, I made a huge energy bridge with them. They started out with mine and moved up into areas I don't know yet. Sure, that'd be great. Dad, can we beam him out?"

"Yup. Is he in the office?"

"He's at home. He can go to the local FBI office."

"Hit ours. It's easier and we have a dot set up. Or we can go there." She told him that and they packed up all their supplies and went to that tinkering lab to lay it out. JARVIS moved all the work for them.

Callia rolled out to the gate, smiling at them. "Guys, my college mentor is coming. Dr. Epps." They nodded, writing him down. "We're in tinkering if anyone that should know asks."

"Callia!" a reporter called.

She looked over. "A few of you have made me a bitter bitch about most of you. What do you want?"

She looked startled. "It wasn't us, dear. It was the bitter ones in New York." She came closer. "I was going to ask how you're feeling."

"A few cramps now and then. I'm working hard with my PT and doing some pool work every day." She stared at her. "Have you seen their shit?"

"Yes, I have. I can fully understand why, dear." She smiled. "Most of us on this coast aren't like that."

"True, none of you would've just stood there." That got a shudder. "Or the other things. Or the ones that were there protesting that Dad and them protected them from huge bad things. Which sent Liz into a panic attack. She had flashbacks to Auntie Dawn's injury."

"Oh, shit," she muttered.

Callia nodded. "So yeah, I like you guys somewhat but there's a lot out there I would rather not see ever again."

"I can understand that. I've been following your blog. I hope you make it."

Callia smiled. "Me too. Though, apparently it's not enough for the people who were going to give me an award in a few weeks." She smiled. "They've decided I'm too fragile to get it or something like that."

"Really?" She smirked. "Let us look into that. Get you some answers."

"The only one I've heard is they consider dad *dangerous* and that some pedophile son of a former genius spread BS about me."

"Great. Let us look."

Callia smiled. "Saves me from ranting later." They shared a smirk. "There he is. Excuse us. We're tinkering." She rolled over as he parked. "Professor, welcome to Stark International." The man smiled and shook her hand. "C'mon, we're in tinkering right now." She led him that way. "I was working on an idea for a spinal bridge to go over the severed nerves in case they never heal. I ran into higher maths and higher science that I'm not sure anyone knows much about so I asked Dad if he could call together his tinkering group. Him, Uncle Rodney, Grandpa Bruce, Andrew, and Jonathan. They corrected the math I'm still learning, and then moved on from there to an energy bridge."

He nodded. "That sounds fascinating and your original topic is close to my own present research. I've been working on the math of neurology." She smiled. "I hope you can. A lot of people would like that."

"Me too." She let him into that lab. The math parts were already up against a wall in diagram form. "I'm still learning that math."

"I remember suggesting you take it." He dropped his bag and came over to look at it. "Elegant, Callia."

"Thank you. Uncle Rodney helped me where I switched bases accidentally." She pointed with the laser pointer. "Then this one was wrong." She pointed at that. "We moved from there to here," she said with a point at that diagram. He moved over to study it, his eyes going wide. "Then went to the huge application." She pointed at that one. "Ultimately I'd like to see a huge and a minor application both from it."

"It's fantastic," he said, staring at them. "Thank you." He settled in to go over where he could help. Rodney was his equal in math but Charlie knew how to twist other types of math into practical matters. Plus his own work was relevant and he could share some of it. Rodney even found a typo on him.

A few hours later, Pepper leaned in then walked in a rolling cart with trays. She cleared her throat and pointed. "The Stark rule says that there must be one warm meal in each and every Stark at least once a day." She stared at them. "That goes for his tinkering buddies too." She smiled at the one she didn't know. "Hi, Pepper Potts."

"Dr. Charles Epps. I'm going to be Callia's mentor in college." He shook her hand with a smile. "You take good care of them."

"That's because there were days I wondered if he had died in the lab. I can't let the kids do that." He grinned. She left them alone, locking the door again behind her.

They dug into their plates and considered where they were. Callia was working on the shrunken version with Andrew and Jonathan while the bigger, more experienced geniuses were dealing with the high impact energy side of this new thing.

***

Someone knocked on the door the next morning, and they were still up and working. Callia rolled over to let them in. "Do we know you?" she asked politely with a grin.

He stared at her. "I think you should."

"We're working on something important, Uncle John. We had dinner. Mommy Pepper brought it."

"Great. Breakfast since it's ten? Showers?"

"Shit," she said, checking her phone. "Dad, I'm missing PT."

"Dawn sent a text saying she had called you off because you were engrossed in something," he said absently. "Rodney, your boyfriend's here."

Rodney snorted and glared at him for a second then at John. "I'm fine."

"You're AWOL and missing your own meeting."

"This is more important. Callia came up with the base formula for an energy bridge. Tell Carter that and that I'll be back when we've gotten all the faults settled."

"Have a guest suite, Rodney," Tony said. "We don't mind."

"Thank you. I'll take use of that after I eat breakfast." John Sheppard stared at him. "Go get me breakfast?"

John barked but went to do that. Pepper was getting them all breakfast so he smiled and helped. "He's AWOL from his own meeting."

"It happens to Tony all the time." They shared a smile and took breakfast back. She walked food over. "Everyone needs a shower sometime today as well," she announced. "Your brain smoke is starting to cling to the walls." She gave Bruce a look when he laughed. Then she left with John.

John went back to the SGC meeting room. "He's with Stark *tinkering*." He looked at Sam Carter, who had huffed. "On an energy bridge Callia came up with. That's all he said. That and he'd be back when there were no faults."

"That could take years," she complained. "Why is that important?"

"Because from what I saw they're working on two versions and one's got the Stargate formula in it." She gaped. He nodded. "I think they may have found another way."

"Wow," the general said. "Was that part of the original work? And how did a kid get it?"

"No clue. The math I saw was well beyond what I got in my Master's, General. I know they're working on a tiny version." He stared at him.

"The kid," he said.

"Probably."

"So, huh. Could be useful?"

"Could be more than."

"Even better. Anyone there not an Avenger or Stark's top geeks?"

"A geek I didn't recognize. Young, dark curly hair, doing math."

"Guy?" Carter asked. He nodded. She pulled up an article. He looked and nodded. "He's got NSA clearance. I worked with him on one of their issues once, sir."

"Okay so probably able to see our level?"

"And beyond. I've consulted him in the past. He was the young genius I went to when we had the looping problem."

"Good. Then I won't worry. Why did he want the meeting?"

"To talk about what to do when he's not there," John said dryly, sitting down. "Like for his award or his vacation when we force him to take one."

"Ironic," the general said dryly. "So what do we do if the city breaks and he's not there?"

"Call Stark," Carter said dryly. "Because he'd either know how to fix it or he'd know where Rodney was hiding in his building to tinker."

The general gave her a dirty look. "There has to be other options, Carter."

"Yes, sir."

"Actually, Chris Stark was at the temple this morning and went through my portal to the city. He was fiddling with a few poles and suddenly we had a shield we thought we lost years ago," John said. "We have no idea how. Radek was talking to him about what he had done and how."

Radek cleared his throat and smiled. "He has great sensitivity toward Atlantis and other AI's that are hurting as he said. He felt she was hurting there so he looked and spliced wires together by color." John shook his head. "He was going to do more but you caught him."

"Okay," John said with a smile. "Let's see what else he can find that hurts her. I want her to quit hurting just as much as he does."

"He was nearly crying over her. We got him calmed down and she talked to him with JARVIS about what she needed. He was also working on fusing his sister's minor tornado in a power cube thing she wasn't sure what she made into the power grid. It worked well but is weak."

John considered it. "That doesn't surprise me."

"He is definitely liking engineering," Radek said proudly. "I will mentor this one. Some day he will have suit, racing cars, and bimbos like his father, but do even greater things."

John smiled. "Cool. You each get a genius Stark to mentor with their dad. I'm sure he'd appreciate the help." He smiled. "Teach him math."

"I am. He has no desire for boring things. So I have showed him fun things, like flight math and velocity formulas. He did enjoy those. He showed me his rocket powered roller skates his sister made."

"Geez," the general complained, shaking his head.

"They go over a hundred miles an hour," Radek said with a smirk. "On gravel." The general stared at him. He grinned back. "He adores."

"Can we recruit those two?"

"Sure, if we suddenly get taken over by Stark International," John said dryly.

"Might be nicer than the Pentagon or SHIELD," the general quipped back.

"You already have my husband running over you," the phone said in Tony's voice. "I can take you over but you're suddenly going to be doing a lot more science work, social and not, and a lot less being a soldier, General. John, Rodney needs his epipen. He just used one because Liz didn't realize he couldn't have lemon gummy bears."

"Coming," he said. He popped off to get it and bring it to him. "You good?"

"I'm fine," he said. "I was fast."

"Even better." He looked at him. "What are we going to do when you're not there?"

"Call Stark."

"Which one? Radek's claimed dibs on mentoring Chris since he's so sensitive to the AI's and felt her pain so he tinkered some things back into working." Tony dropped his pen to stare at him. "Radek said he was crying because Atlantis was in pain."

"That's how he knows when JARVIS has a booboo too," Callia said. "He started that when he was two. Right after JARVIS nearly electrocuted him one night by accident."

"He what?" Tony demanded.

She looked at him. "Remember his sleep walking thing? It got stopped because he ran into a security field around the chem lab one night and nearly got zapped to death. JARVIS panicked and got him back to normal, got him to the infirmary, and they're the ones who stopped his sleep walking. Ever since then he gets this weird resolved look on his face and goes to fix any electrical booboos he can feel."

"So he's got empathy with the computers," Tony said to make sure.

"I have no idea what it's called. Liz calls it his weird face."

"JARVIS, what was that lab working on that night?" Tony asked.

"The extremis formula someone came up with, sir. Which is why I had it locked off."

"Which bonds people with machines," Tony said. "Did he get through the bubble?"

"Not that I could tell."

"Has he been exposed to it?" Tony asked.

"Not that I can tell, sir. His DNA tests the same." Tony looked up. "I have not done a tissue level sample on him. Not before or after that. So I cannot tell if somehow some leaked out and affected him. It affects each person differently. I have not seen the remains of the virus in any of his bloodwork that I've scanned."

Tony grimaced, looking at Rodney, who shrugged. Then at John, who shrugged too. "Fuck!" he announced. "JARVIS, pull up all the information we have on Extremis so I can go over it please."

"I've already locked all that down in your private vault, sir."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You did not ask. It didn't seem to matter."

"You like Chris fussing over your booboos," Callia added.

"Yes, he does fuss very well. He's learned quite handily from his aunt, as you have, Callia," the AI said.

Tony nodded. "Okay. I'll look over that later." He sighed and looked. Then at John, who smiled and left. He looked at Rodney and Charlie. Then he shook his head. "My kids have already surpassed where I was at their age."

"We have more information available to us and faster ways of getting it," Callia said with a smile. "If you had the internet at my age, you would've done it too, Dad."

"True," he agreed. "You're already on my dad's level."

Callia beamed. "You are too."

"Dad knew things I never will."

"Grandpa had to make up a lot of the science as he went along because it wasn't there. Now that it is there it takes true genius to look at the piles of horse shit that get put out every year by every single PhD candidate out there, including the ones that think aliens were our ancestors, and find the good things to use, twist, forge, enlarge, and then turn into beautiful things of science. Anyone can use the calculator Grandpa helped develop. You've turned it into a tool, a weapon, a thing of beauty and of skill. I'm turning into different directions so it fans out even farther. Chris will do his part. Our kids are screwed unless they come up with a whole new science to start from."

Tony hugged her. "You're better with words than I am too." She patted him on the back. "Okay, I say we break for a shower, more coffee, then come back to it." They nodded and locked the door behind them to go do that. Jonathan had the Roombas guard it so no one could get in.

***

Rodney walked into the SGC meeting room six days later looking exhausted, like he needed food and a shower, and he was smiling about it. He put down his tablet and looked at the people in the meeting he called. "We have now figured out how to merge the Rainbow Bridge and the Stargate."

"Is that a help to us?" the general asked casually, putting his feet up on a spare chair.

"It is. We can use it to merge with other non-technical means of transporting around the galaxy." He stared at him. "We can call them to our terminus. We can use the Stargate to use them." He put up a projection from his tablet. "In fact, we talked to the strange, hormone driven Xander that showed up. His realm has good magic and he has learned how to use the portals they use for quick getting around the various realms of demons, magic, and otherwise. We can use this there as well." He put up that formula.

"Dr. Mckay, that's in geek math," the general said. "Can it be translated for the rest of us?"

Sam Carter pointed. "That's a very beautiful formula. Usually yours are rougher. Sir, this is a way for us to breach realms instead of just interplanetary distance."

"That's what I said," Rodney complained, pulling it down. "It's not all my work. Dr. Epps helped quite a lot. As did Callia."

She smiled. "It's great when there's more women in science."

"Though we will be having a lot of protests as her award was revoked due to her being in a wheelchair and what her father chooses to do to help humanity," Rodney said bitterly, staring at her.

"Excuse me?" she demanded. He nodded. "Hell no."

"Geologic level of pressure is being applied and they're not happy."

"Good. Add my name to it."

"Please do," Rodney assured her. "She was about to get the same award I won at twelve. A year earlier than I did." She got up and stomped off to call someone. He smiled at the general. "Her in another realm got given the portal formulas because our gateway interfered with them." He put up another formula. "This is how we merge the two."

John leaned forward. "This lets us break realms, not dimensions, right?"

"Yes. Including to perhaps that realm that Dawn's original form came from." John smiled at that. "That is the better version of a quantum mirror. One that's fully controllable, one that's fully extendable to wherever we want it to go."

The general smiled. "Which solves the problem we've had with the quantum mirror for years." Rodney nodded. "Great work, McKay. Anything else for us?"

"It is all going under patent and Dr. Epps has been using some of the more micro applications with Callia and others for his own research. It gave it a huge jump. He was working on the math of neurology and brain chemicals." The general shuddered. "We're looking at ways of using it to heal."

"Even better," the general agreed. "Good for humanity. Good for us. Has Stark tested out that new hybrid engine?"

"He has been. It's going very well. It's lasted through a lot of the testing he's wanted to do without maintenance. He's about to test it under more stringent conditions. It does go faster than the current electric models."

"Great," the general agreed. "I'm looking forward to it."

Rodney smiled. "That other Xander has a chemist and engineer he saved from being pimped out. He made a jeep that shrinks to a flat box magically. It runs on gas, ambient magic, or solar."

The general blinked. "Did Stark look at it?" he asked with a smile.

"Indeed. We all did and were most happy with it. Stark included that with his version and it's now souped up, can run on solar or ambient magic if off realm, and can go faster for longer. Before they had tested it going one-fifty for four hours." John whimpered, shaking his head. "By the way, Chris did pull out that floating car Howard had created once upon a time, and has tinkered it into working right. It now hovers about six inches off the ground due to a combination of forces. It runs like a normal car. He pulled one of the test cars off the testing track to interfere with it. The engine still ran the same with it on there." He poured himself some more coffee. "With that, I'm going to take a nap. I'll see you all next week." He took his tablet and his coffee to his rooms to shower, nap, and wake up sometime whenever he was ready.

John looked at the general. "Do I want to shake him until he's a bobble head doll or just kick his ass for leaving it at that?"

"I like the first. If you break him he might not reup and then we'd have to hire him as a subcontractor through Stark, which would kill our budget, John."

John Sheppard grinned. "Yes, sir. I'll keep that in mind." He got up. By the time he made it to Rodney's room he could hear snoring. So he was down for a long winter's nap. He'd have to make sure he made it up in time for his award in two days.

***

Tony leaned into the Expo board's committee meeting. "Guys, put in a show off from our tinkering group, including showcasing the kids." He walked off again. "We have huge things to announce."

"Okay," the chair said, adding that to the schedule. Dawn added it properly, getting a smile. "Any idea?"

"Lots of ideas." She smirked. "Including that Chris took Howard's old floating car and upped it with the new hybrid engine's second generation. It's even better from the testing they're doing." They all moaned and nodded.

"Great," he said. They went over the schedule for the other expo slots. "Is Hammer going to have one?"

"Can't we exclude him on general principles of being a douchebag?" Dawn asked.

"Wish we could."

"Congress hates him," another said.

Dawn nodded. "He told Callia she was ruined for science and no one would ever listen to her. She's been pushing herself to prove him wrong."

They added more space to the kids' section of the talk. They'd probably need it.

***

Tony walked into Pepper's office with the results of the scans Bruce had done. "Hang up," he said.

"Two minutes, Tony. They're having a supply problem." She finished up and hung up, watching as he put up the privacy shield that killed all electronics within thirty feet. "That bad? Did we make a new nuclear bomb?"

"I did that at fifteen, Pepper. It's in the vault." He put down the results. "Remember when Chris used to sleep walk?" he asked quietly. She nodded. "He sleep walked toward the lab that had that new Extremis virus/drug/whatever they're categorizing it as these days." She stared at him. "JARVIS kept him out but he got a bit exposed. He's got empathy with the AI's. He can tell when they have booboos as he put it. Bruce and I talked to him."

She blinked at him. "Does that mean he's bonded with JARVIS or Atlantis?"

"No. In him it didn't bond him to the machinery. In him it created the same sort of empathy Dawn has with people only his is for machines, specifically higher level machines."

She swallowed, leaning back in her chair. "Do we need to do something about this?"

"No. We need to realize it and watch for him to show it in public. We had to talk to him about not fixing other people's things on them." She nodded at that. "The Expo might expose him."

"Okay," she said, considering that. "At least he likes machines." Tony smiled. "This is going to impact his education."

"He hates math. Knows why he has to learn it but hates math."

"So did Callia at times." He put down something else. She stared at it then at him. "How did you get it approved already?"

"It's ongoing research and we asked for a quick review due to the multiple applications we're going to be using it for. We've filed it in the world court as well. That'll take longer." She nodded slowly. "Epps is a math god."

"So I've heard." She smiled. "Have a bit of a science crush?" she teased.

"Definitely." He stared at her. "We're coming out with the energy bridge. Callia's working on a short term neuro bridge." She sat up straight, staring at him. "That's what she was working toward."

"She doesn't think she'll make it fully?"

"She was thinking for emergency situations where she'll have to run, jump, and shoot she said. She's been realistic, Pep. She knows she'll probably limp a bit. She'll probably have tired days when she'll need a cane. She and the PT talked about that and her pushing herself so hard. She's doing PT then coming home and doing another three times of PT plus her laps in the pool. I made her sit down and eat breakfast with the programmers this morning. She's lost some weight and he was worried."

"Okay, I can pay attention to that." She stared at him. "So what do we do?"

"Even if Liz was exposed to this, she'd probably end up still liking art, business, and Gloria's law books." Pepper smiled, she had spotted her trying to read them and being confused the other day. "Maeve has no sign of it. She likes the DVD player but otherwise she might not like tech."

"Sure," she said, relaxing again. "So we're announcing what she has?"

"We're announcing where she is in hers. With Andrew and Jonathan. We've made sure everyone was on the paperwork. Epps upped his own research with it. Which in turned help Callia's. This is huge though. The bridge, the higher energy bridge, is powerful." She nodded slowly, licking her lips. "It's borderline for 'it could cause people issues'. I'm going to talk to Baldr with Rodney in a few days."

"Okay," she agreed. "Please do so we don't piss off Frigga or someone."

He nodded. "That's my worry."

"How do we help Chris best?"

"So far it's not affecting him more than normal. He's at the same level that Callia was at but he's doing things instinctively like how he went to Atlantis to wander around and spliced some wires by colors to make her feel better. Radek's claimed mentoring status. Rodney's all but publically declared that Callia's his genius heir." He grinned. She snorted but looked pleased. "So.... That power cube I'm not sure about and neither is Rodney."

"It's renewable."

"They're all looking it over. Epps was in heaven with the ZPM and her little cube's power flow research too."

"I'll make sure he's noted as being part of your high geek group." She smiled. "Let me know if we have to change anything."

"Do you want us to add her power research?"

Pepper considered it. "How dangerous?"

"Rodney thinks a lot possibly. Or it could be revolutionary. The same way atomic power and ZPM power is."

"Is he?"

"No. He wants her to hide it and she agreed that she'd like to but would like to show off her power research project that went into the engine and this is based on that. Plus there is a patent hidden somewhere. He made sure."

"She's good at that." She tapped her fingers on the desk a few times, nodding. "The basics that went into the engine and that we're working to make it better, faster, bigger, more applicable to more matters. If we could find a way to power cities with it, we'd all probably be really happy."

"Yeah, I would." He smiled and took the blocker, letting her restart her phone and laptop while he went to talk to his daughter. She agreed with those reasons. She and Rodney could work on it together to make it more applicable and her geek think tank could use that to start from. She really had to think about who to gather into it. There had to be kids on her level, right?

***

Callia was giving an interview she didn't want to give but she had to. It was for the good of the company and made her look less like her father's limpet back crawler and more like a true Stark of the lineage. She was dressed nicely enough. They hadn't wanted pictures. She still smiled when the reporter came in. "I went with comfy clothes. Hope you don't mind."

"No, I know you need to be comfortable, Callia. I had to do some minor physical therapy after a car crash when I was fifteen. I had six pins in my right leg." Callia winced. "So been through some of that." She set up things and smiled at her. "Get comfy."

"I'm okay. Dad, Stepmom, and Mom all made sure my padding in the chair is great and comfy. Chris put a lift kit on it so I wouldn't need to carry around a ramp for the labs." She smiled. "I was out of it earlier for pool time. I spend some time swimming each day."

"It has to take the stress off your back."

"That and it's great exercise." She smiled. "So, you asked to interview me. What's up?"

"A few things have been hinted and we wanted to get your answers on some pertinent and impertinent questions," the reporter said with a smile.

"Sure. I've heard both and asked a lot of them myself." She smiled back. "What's going around now?"

"Well, first. I've been told you have patents?"

"I do. I have seventeen with my name on them. I have another ten that are in review. There's one in quick review that I'm pretty sure got approved recently."

"All your work?"

"Some of them are with Andrew and Jonathan. A few are with Dad or Grandpa Bruce. Out of that first seventeen, eight are only mine." The reporter blinked. She smiled. "Out of the other ten, three are. They're older things. Andrew, Jonathan, and Grandpa Bruce helped teach me a lot of what I know. Grandpa is still really amused that I have no idea about proper component names on circuit boards but I know what they do and how to use them properly and design using them. Terminology is not my forte."

"So you know how to use resistors and the like but can't identify them on sight?"

"On sight but not usually by description. If you ask what something does I'll tell you what it does, how it does it, and why it's in that particular spot but I never took the time to learn what each one has as a proper name."

"Huh. So it's more practical for you than just dreaming up things?"

"Mostly. I spend a good hour each day in front of my tablet working on ideas." She pulled her tablet out of the wheelchair pocket and turned it on, opening a project. "Something minor I've been making for Liz." She showed her. "Liz said that she needs a better coordinated storage area, so she can find things. Like those closet systems that have it all on an iPad and it can move the closet to bring whatever you want to look at forward." That got a nod. "That system itself won't work for Liz's needs for her art stuff, her toys, her books, movies, or language tapes. So I'm working on designing the physical system to let her do that while Chris works on the software system. He likes that side better than I do. I'm not the computer genius dad is. I'm the physical genius sort." She grinned. "Then we'll put it into Liz's new room and it'll hopefully quit slinging her stuffed friends at her like it presently does. Chris made it sling anything pink at her."

"Sounds like a boy thing."

"He likes pink, but he said she didn't need it, it was for evil guys. Uncle Thor told him that bad guys in his people used to wear pink instead of black."

"Huh. I didn't know that." She smiled. "So you and Chris work alone a lot?"

"Sometimes. Chris is getting the same sort of dad time I used to get at his age. I'm old enough to retreat to my own lab to do my own thing and only go to Dad when I'm totally stuck and can't figure it out for myself. That's one reason why I moved to my own lab, so I'd have to figure things out instead of taking the easy path and asking."

"Which is good." She smiled. "What sort of patents? We've seen mostly electronic related ones but the newest one is said to be about energy?"

Callia smiled. "Wait until the Expo. Dad said we're putting out some of it then."

"Could it help people now?"

"Right now, we're testing our theories to make sure they're safe. To make sure they're practical across many things. I can tell you it does deal with energy, big energy and little energy, which is where I started. Then I ran into math problems that were higher than I've learned. I'm taking Calculus 4 but it's still beyond my grasp. Uncle Rodney found my three math errors and I moved from there to tinier applications while Dad saw a greater energy application to look over with Uncle Rodney and others." She smiled. "The whole tinkering group is having part of the Expo to present from what I'm told."

"That's wonderful. Are we thinking this might be like a new hybrid engine?"

Callia smiled. "That is something Dad and I started way back when Mom moved to Asgard with Sean and the twins. We were explaining engines to Sean while the twins were in the neonatal unit after their birth. He thought they should run on goats, like Uncle Thor's chariot." The reporter grinned. "Because I was kinda depressed he was up there he and I worked on something but we set it aside when bigger things caught our attention. Then Chris found it and he asked Dad. He and Dad have tinkered a version that's presently in heavy testing. I can tell you it's goat powered." She smiled. "And that it's a pretty good hybrid. So far we've done some great endurance work with the testing. I haven't really paid much attention to it since then. It's Chris and Dad's project."

"You were part of it."

"I still like cars. Dad promised we could hand-forge mine so I'd learn how to hand-forge too." The reporter's mouth flopped open. Callia smiled. "Chris adores cars. He's all about the fast. That's why he stole the rocket powered roller skates I made one weekend when I was bored. I still can't find where he hid them from the adults so they couldn't confiscate them. I know he's taken the rocket mechanism and moved it to a new set of skate boots because his feet have gotten too big for the original."

"Rocket powered.... Why?"

"I was bored." She smiled. "We tested it when they were trying to catch Chris one day on the SI gravel parking lots in Malibu. He was going over a hundred miles an hour. I took the spacesuit directional jets to tamper with and upgrade for them."

The reporter cleared her throat. "Does he know about the Stark racing team?"

"He found out about that a few months back. He's still staring in awe at them. He wants to try it some day. Made Dad buy him a racing car game."

"That's great." She smiled. "You don't like racing?"

"I like cars. I like engines in cars. Cars themselves are kinda....whatever. They're design and function that I look at like 'why did you have to do that' and 'isn't there a better way' or even 'I'm sure Chris could do better' about a few things like the self-parking assist system that's recently come out. I'm thinking Dad and I are going to be building me a roadster."

The reporter smiled. "Like a kit car?"

"Only I'm going to learn how to forge metal by hammer and fire. Like they used to hand-make everything."

"Wow." She stared at her. "Are you interested in ancient weapons?"

"I am." She grinned. "I love Uncle Xander's battle axe. Uncle Phil won't let me look at his special sword." She shrugged and grinned, wincing a bit. "Sorry, pulling." She shifted and caught her breath at the pain. "Go ahead."

"I can wait, dear. Like I said, I remember the cramping and the spasms very well," she said quietly. Callia smiled and got comfortable by transferring onto the couch. Then she curled up by pulling her legs up. "Hard question. Do they think you'll make it back to walking?"

"Right now that depends on my strength. They think I can if I work hard enough. Maybe down to a cane or crutches, maybe fully on my own most of the time. I want it really hard. I'm doing more than my PT wants me to do."

"I'm sure you'll make it then. There's rumors that you've sold an invention or two. Why?"

She smiled. "How many times have you written the phrase 'Howard's son Tony Stark' or some derivative of it?"

"Many," she admitted. "Especially when he was younger."

"I'm not going to have that. I'm Dad's daughter, and we had a talk about this. He didn't want to cast a shadow over me like he had to climb out of. It was really unfair to him and it's kinda unfair to us. Frankly, Grandfather was floating around as a ghost and annoyed the crap out of me because he didn't believe in women in science." The reporter winced. "We finally banished him to the old beach house in the Bahamas because he told me I was never going to do anything and might as well curl up and read for eternity. I'm not doing that. Not because he said it, not because the CEO in Norway sent me a letter saying I was now 'ruined'. Not because Mr. Hammer tried to discourage and defeat me by telling me that no one would listen to a disabled scientist. I very calmly told him that not all scientists were that shallow. I should have corrected my assumption of how many are up, but if someone like Stephen Hawkings can do it and be basically unable to communicate without technology, I'll be damned if I'm going to let this back injury stop me."

"That's a good way to look at things. Has there been a backlash because of this?"

"We're not sure if it's because of this or politics," she said blandly. "I was supposed to get an award next week. If it was the politics of Dad's part-time unpaid job protecting the ungrateful masses that come here to protest about him protecting them then I'd be fully surprised. It played a part but they did decide I was *fragile*. Apparently a guy in a wheelchair is more allowable in science than a female in one. It's a stereotype I'm fully intending to break and shatter into a million pieces. Women in science are already discredited and discounted more often than guys. It sucks. A lot."

"It does. What about college?"

"I'm taking some of the mandatories through my high school."

"That's good. Cal Sci?" She nodded with a smile. "Why there? I know your dad went to MIT."

"Dad did. He and I talked about MIT, and I did tour it. They're doing a lot of stuff that I soaked up watching around here. The 'this is how you build a circuit' and that stuff. Frankly, Cal Sci has a more personal project based system. It's more 'you have an idea, let's explore it' sort of structure. Which I'm used to from our labs. Here we have ideas, we work on ideas, and we have peer review and update meetings with Dad or reports for him. MIT was *nice* and it looked like a pretty campus. If I wasn't past some of their classes, I might've considered it harder. I needed somewhere more fluid and where I could have a teacher who'd look at an idea and go 'that's full of shit' when it is instead of 'well, the material costs would be outrageous so no one would really want it' that I get now." She smiled. "It's gentle but I like their program for their wacky, freethinking nature."

"That's a great reason," she agreed. "I picked my college because of all the cute guys."

"By the time I get there I'll start appreciating boys in more than a 'you just like me for the boobs I'm growing' that I have now. I guess." She shrugged. "Who knows. Right now, I don't care unless boys want to eat lunch, go to the movies, and work on things with me."

"You've had a few dates?"

"I went to lunch with a nice guy I met in LA. He had contributed something to the young genius engineering competition and got notable mention. We had lunch by the pier and talked about robotic cars." She smiled. "He's a really sweet guy. He's my age. We're still penpals."

"That's good. A lot of people wondered if your father had kept you out of school to isolate you a bit."

"No. That was purely because as a premie I get sick at the snap of fingers sometimes. A few years back when I had pneumonia it was because I had walked the dog without an umbrella." The reporter winced. "So it was partially that and partially that I was so far ahead. I was doing three classes at a time and by the time I was eight I was doing a mix of middle and high school work. How could I go to third grade when I was doing that at home?"

"I can understand that. I'm sure a lot of child prodigies had the same problem."

"Dad, Mom, and Auntie Dawn always made sure I had other kid time. So did Stepmom when they started to see each other. I got taken to the park, to classes with other kids. Anytime I wanted to go to the kid's museum I basically got taken by someone, even if it was Happy that once because no one could get away and I had earned a treat but was too impatient to wait on them to get done. I went to swim classes, which Chris is now in. I went to Bollywood dancing because I asked to. I went to gymnastics because I asked to. I had self defense here because I needed to."

"That's true," she sighed. "You did. So you think it was an okay upbringing?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I think so. No one ever told me 'no' about much of anything. Occasionally it was 'you're too young' about things like going on the business trip to Hong Kong or when I did ask about going to high school at nine. Then we talked about it. I had my share of punishments when I deserved them. Even if do think ten page papers on obscure topics is a bit mean of my father. Especially when I was grounded from all electronics for six months because I had wondered about circumcision after spotting the difference while helping change diapers. But then again, I had gotten onto some porn sites. I found shit I still don't understand how or why they were doing it." She shook her head but smiled.

The reporter was laughing. "You helped change diapers?"

"Yeah. I helped a lot with Chris and Liz, and now Chris and Liz help with Maeve. I also used to run a playgroup for the kid geeks. It turned into our daycare. I helped Tara with the twins, both sets. I helped Auntie Dawn sometimes with Philip. Which is when I noticed that Phillip had stuff that Chris doesn't. Which is why I asked. I thought Chris was deformed so that's why I asked. Because I had no idea what to tell anyone who might also find out and ask.

"Dad kinda froze up and tried not to answer. Mommy and Stepmom both called me mouthy and stood me in the corner after telling me I didn't need to know. Auntie Dawn told me it wasn't any of my business until I needed to see dicks in person. Grandpa Bruce talked to me about things I did not need to yet know. Then Auntie Natasha grounded me. Dad remembered he had meant to and enforced it. I think the only person I didn't ask was Uncle Clint and Director Fury. I asked Grandma but she backed up Mom."

"I remember he had to redo part of an interview to go talk to you about that."

"The pictures I saw on the medical site and the porn sites I found grossed me out so much I went up to the office to complain that I had seen it. That's when I got sent to Grandpa Bruce and he reminded me that sometimes there were unknown things and if I had done more than look at the pictures I would've found out I had broken the law. Which is when Auntie Natasha reminded Daddy I should be grounded."

"I would've probably spanked my kids."

"Dad's not into spanking. If I do something hugely bad like blow up a building by accident maybe. The grounding was the harshest yet. I had to go to our legal people and tell them all the bad things I had done so they could help me write a huge, three hundred page paper on all the laws I had broken. I got one of the assistant lawyers to help me learn how to read law codes. I was grounded from all electronics for six months. No tv, computer, tablets, nothing. I had a meltdown about doing my homework by hand because I could not write papers that way. I was falling behind on my promised deadlines for homework so Dad had Stepmom show me what an outline was and he allowed me to type up the stuff I was behind for the final draft only. That's also when I learned how to negotiate and things." She grinned. "They were all really mean to me about that."

"I'd guess that would seem mean." She stared at her for a moment. "It's said you somehow snuck some liquor too."

She waved a hand with a snort. "I was hunting red bull at the store by the compound's gates. Which I know I wasn't allowed to have. I was being defiant and wanted some. So I went to buy some. I had some blackmail on the guy since Dad had already called and told him I wasn't allowed to buy any. There was cheap wine underneath it on the next shelf. I did not read labels in those days. It was on the same shelf with orange juice and energy drinks so I thought it was another one. All he said was that was not for people under twenty-one. He never said it was liquor. I found that out later when I had the hangover from Hades. Which was when Dad had found out I had turned him in for his circumcision sideline but no one had listened. Dad turned it in to a higher source."

The reporter looked at her. "You didn't know?"

"No. Not like Dad drinks the cheap stuff and I've never seen the bottles. He has pretty decanters for the bar."

She groaned and shook her head. "I take it you learned how to read labels?"

"You betcha. I'm not that sort of genius. We will not be trying that again."

"Why was Red Bull banned?"

"Chris and Liz were so pissing me off. They would not leave me alone. They were following me everywhere. So I gave Chris the rest of my can of Red Bull and Liz three donuts the same day I outed the pregnancies." She smiled. "Then I locked myself in my lab in a way that meant no one could get in." The reporter winced. "Chris and I still sneak Red Bull now and then. That's why the shops in the other tower don't sell it. Dad asked politely."

"Wasn't Chris about two?"

"Yup." She nodded. "Dad took them out to the undeveloped part of the land and let them run it off with my dog." She pulled up video of Chris and Liz hyped up. The reporter smiled but shook her head so she shut it down. "I was mean but I wanted some time without my siblings. And I paid for it too. Dad made sure."

"I'm sure he did," she said. "He's taken some unique turns with you."

Callia grinned. "I'm not the average kid. Do you really think a spanking or a time out would've worked?"

"No, probably not," she admitted.

Callia smiled. "Dad's creative when he needs to be about us kids."

"It's said he lets your brother put on dresses?"

"Now and then. Liz started that. Mom would do her shopping with her and Liz would sneak in a pretty dress for Chris too. Mom never spotted it in the pile of clothes." The reporter winced. "Stepmom, not all that amused at first, but Chris now and then says he wants to be pretty. He's treating it like Auntie Dawn does Philip and his kilt. Sometimes kids like slightly weird fashion and it makes them smarter to explore things and to make decisions for themselves. None of us think that Chris will become a transvestite. We had to explain that to him the other day when Liz was nagging him that he should be a girl."

"So it's just a weird kid phase?"

"Probably." She shrugged a bit. "My weird kid clothes phase I'm still in. I like leotards, they're comfy."

"They can be. Do you have trouble getting into them?"

"I had trouble with it until we went to Auntie Dawn's tailor. Then he had someone make me a few in regular t-shirt material with snaps to help me get into them."

"That's good. What about other things?"

"I freaked out Stepmom. Regular bathing suits were just as hard for me. Mom let me switch to bikinis. That's when Stepmom went from 'you're eleven and growing up' to 'damn it, you need a bra' and 'bikinis are for big, adult girls, not girls my age'. They had to remind him it was easier for me to get into and out of. Once that's no longer true, he's overridden dad's agreement that I could have one when I had boobs and made it eighteen."

"You are growing quite the figure."

"And I'm taller than my mom was," she quipped with a grin.

"You are." She tipped her head to the side. "Who do you look up to for fashion icon ideas?"

"Auntie Dawn and Mom. I've found a few designers I like the stuff of but that's only for really special things. Fancy clothes would be ruined in the lab with all the dirt and grease. That's why it's t-shirts, leotards, pants, and shorts in the lab and slightly better clothes when I'm out and about, then fancy, expensive things for bigger things."

"We've seen you wear a few different designers."

"I was wearing one to the awards dinner. I'll save that for something else." She shifted with a wince. Her toes were going numb. She wiggled them a bit and it helped. She looked at the reporter again. "It's not easy."

"No, it's not. Some of us have been following your livejournal."

"Auntie Dawn suggested I could be inspiring and vent."

"I've seen some of the venting and it made sense. Do you feel the same sort of apathy toward people that your father does?"

She considered it. "I don't think it's apathy. I think it's exhaustion. Those same protestors, if something had happened during their protest, they would've screamed and ranted if Dad hadn't protected them. We've been aware of a double standard on that since the battle with the Chitauri. I've always grown up with it. Auntie Dawn fights it a lot. That's one reason why she's healing from a concussion. Those same people that hurt her would've screamed and ranted if she hadn't been able to save them and they needed it.

"It didn't take me that long to realize that humanity sucks ass at times. They want contradictory things and try to enforce their will on both at the same time. They do stupid things because people are different, or smarter, or female. So no, I'm a bit mad. I have no apathy, but I will claim exhaustion from the very same people. Especially when that 'protest' made my sister have a panic attack in the corner." She stared at her. "They need to grow the fuck up. They can't have it both ways. Some of them have tried to sue Dad and SHIELD for not protecting them enough and yet they don't want the protection at all. Let them make up their fucking minds and get back with us.

"Because when it's Chris's turn in the suit, he won't be like Dad. Dad has patience and Chris has not inherited it. Even though he realizes that people do that stuff. One of the protestors the other day started to shout at him. He's five and they were shouting at him like it was his fault. One of them tried to hit him with his sign. Chris hit him back with it and the idiot adult wanted Chris arrested. The officer thankfully had sense and had seen him try to hit Chris. And also had some common sense because he got that guy out of there before Mom heard and made it down there to make him regret trying to hit her son. Liz and I got pompoms to cheer Mom on. Chris took one of mine to help."

"I had not heard about that." Callia called up the security footage. She watched and winced. "I would've ripped his head off, cop in the way or not."

"Uncle Clint pulled her off to save the officer and assured him that if he *ever* stepped foot back on Stark property one of them would break him. As it turned out, the mini witch that goes to school up the road a bit, who likes to try to pick on Auntie Dawn now and then, made him trip and break his leg when he showed up for dinner." She smiled. "She also made sure a hypocrite sign floated above his head for over a month until her mother made her stop it."

"We thought that might've been Dawn."

"No. The mini witch is pretty mean but only sometimes." She smiled. "Chris bought her a candy bar and grinned shyly at her before going back inside."

"You guys sneak over to the other tower?"

"Yup, sometimes. I take my dog out for walks. Chris and Liz sneak over to the pastry and donut shop. Sometimes Chris sneaks to the ice cream place for himself or me, or the coffee shop for us. He's better at sneaking than I ever have been."

"That must drive your parents nuts."

"Sometimes but even here in this city, most kids can sneak across the street without getting into too much trouble. It's a shame we can't on our own property."

"Good point." She stared at her. "You sound a bit...not exactly bitter but world weary."

"Sometimes I am. I do try to keep that from my siblings but I've seen some of the worst that humanity does to itself. I was old enough to remember my aunt being on the run from the US before they turned her into a slave and I asked questions about why she had to be gone. I asked a lot of questions about why she wasn't able to be there for Grandma and me." The reporter shivered. "I don't think most people who've seen what we have would be all sweetness and light. I can't think of a single one of us that would be all sweetness and light. I'm hoping that Liz won't remember this always but I know she'll remember some. I'm hoping that Maeve never has to see it at all. Chris, he's already a bit cynical. Especially after the other night."

"What are your future plans, to blatantly change the subject before I get depressed about humanity too?"

Callia smiled. "The only way to not get depressed about humanity is to change humanity. Every little bit helps." She shifted her legs again. "I've actually made some huge future plans. With the invention I sold, I set up my own trust fund so I'm paying for my own school. That way anyone like a reporter who asks I can say I paid my own way. That gets me a bit further out of Dad's shadow. I never want to be Tony's daughter Callia. His daughter but some day I'd like to be Callia, not Callia Stark. I know it's a pop star ideal but I'm eleven in three days so I'll forgive that in myself at this time."

She grinned. "I have plans of taking our old mansion, Dad's childhood home, and turning it into a geek think tank. My generation of think tank. Chris can create his own. I want them to turn the ideas I get that may or may not be weapons, and come up with ways of using it for humanity. Or take Dad's suit tech and use it to help with emergency situations and things like floods. I'm barely old enough to remember Katrina. I remember watching some of the news coverage. I remember Dad going down to help rescue people and the FEMA jackass yelling at him for it. I want to turn the suit into something to help that.

"Or to help injured animals that need it in those situations. That's been an ideal I've held since I was six. I think it's still a good one. I also know that some of my ideas are more weapons oriented and with the way I feel about humanity I wouldn't trust them with weapons. Most of the time I don't trust them with pocket knives, much less artillery that I've come up with. I want to assemble a group to live with me there and they can take those sort of ideas and use them to help humanity instead."

"I think those are good goals." She smiled. "Do you know many that could be in that group?"

"I met a few at the young engineer award dinner thing. They might. As I work through college I might run into more. Dad's agreed it's a great idea. He hasn't said anything about me renovating that old, depressing wreck. So we'll see where we go."

"Under Stark International's banner?"

"Probably. I am a Stark and one of us will take over the business some year. Not sure which one. Liz might like business stuff. I know right now she's fascinated with law stuff and the medical shows on tv. She was watching a plastic surgery show and tried to fix my fatty shoulder as she put it. I had to get away from her and the kitchen knife. Mom had a talk with her." She grinned. "Thankfully. So we'll see. It might be Maeve. Who knows. It's not time to decide that. Dad had better not die before I'm in my sixties or else I'm making him the newest Stark ghost to haunt us."

"I know he's got to have plans with how he was orphaned at seventeen."

She nodded. "We go to Auntie Dawn and her spouses or Grandma or a few others. There's a huge list. They all know. I won't divulge that in case some carrier of the stupidity virus we've recently run into multiple cases of decides to take them out of life for it."

"That's a reason I understand. Do you have any mentors you look up to beyond your father?"

"Uncle Rodney. He's taught me a lot. Grandpa has. Andrew and Jonathan taught me tons of stuff, including how to make lasers." She grinned. "Outside the family group and the tinkering group? I haven't met many that I could. People like Hammer are posers who lean on others with ideas. He's showy and flashy but like PT Barnum. Dad does it *so* much better. Hell, Loki does it better." She grimaced. "We've had a lot of great minds I would've liked to have met. And a few I've met that their personality ruined any hero worship I might've had. Grandpa Howard is one of those. A lot."

She shook her head to clear it. "There's people I admire in other fields. Colonel Sheppard is really a great guy. He likes math and planes. He explains planes to me when I get curious. He's a great pilot and a really nice guy. I hope he finds someone as nice to him as Uncle Clint is to Auntie Dawn. Uncle Radek taught me a lot. Sam Carter when she was around taught me a few things but she's kinda creeped out by me I think. She didn't know how to talk to a child that knew some of her field of interest. Though I think that's almost common. A few other engineers have acted like I was wrong to know things. Even after they noted to Dad that I was a chip off the Stark marble block."

"Do you get that a lot?"

"Yup. He got it worse with Grandfather but Dad's made sure I didn't have a hidden pit in the shadow he was putting off the way Howard created one for him."

"You sometimes call him grandfather and sometimes by his name."

"Yeah, a lot of the time I don't really like being related to Howard. He's always had a weird attitude about me. Me being the first born and female. Me being born a potential slayer. He actually told Dad he shouldn't get attached."

"That's an interesting topic."

She held up a hand. "Uncle Xander talked to the people over the slayer gifts so they could talk to the slayer spirit itself. Because I have magic, it's not really allowed in a slayer, potential or otherwise. Magic would work against the instincts and the skills she imparts. Which means a very short lived, very ineffective slayer. The weapons making was slightly tolerated but I don't fit very well into what a slayer should be, the mold of the slayer spirit that works best. The physical attributes I have, had," she sighed. "The mental I wasn't going to be able to basically shut down and be a warrior. My mind goes to 'do I know something that can help here beyond using a weapon'. My first instinct was never to pick up a weapon to solve something. My first instinct is to make something to solve something.

"She tested me at that time and about six months ago when someone else tried to summon her to possess me against her will, and we talked. She was under coercion then but even then she couldn't make me less smart, less skilled, more action oriented. She couldn't make me into a slayer that she could be proud of. And in some ways that's almost upsetting. That I failed at *something*, especially that important. And in other ways it's a relief. I might be able to fight a vampire again some day but my first instinct still isn't to pick up a crossbow or a stake, it's to make something to take them out from across the city. Or a virus to break down the vampire's traits."

"Why does it upset you that you're not slated to be that way? I thought you didn't want the suit."

"I never really wanted the suit. I gave it careful thought back when people started to wonder and I've always hesitated. It didn't feel *right* to me. I would've been proud to be a slayer. My mother was one of the longest lasting. She died the oldest ever thanks to going to Asgard to protect up there. She was one of the greatest that they had and changed the line in ways that no one could anticipate. She handled big shit that no one else in history had to. I would've been proud to follow her into that. Even while tinkering in my spare time to make myself slayer weapons."

She smiled. "And I feel like I failed Mom a bit at that. Even though Mom would probably yell a lot about that thought. Auntie Dawn did." She blinked a few times. "It's not that I want to be the heroic sort. Some of us are meant to do great things in quiet ways. Some of us are meant to do great things in flashy ways. I'll do great things in quieter ways. It suits me more. I hate publicity and going to events. Dad threatens to send me to finishing school sometimes over belching at the table and stuff. I hate events." She shrugged and grimaced. "Some of us are meant to be support staff and some are meant to be the heros. And sometimes the support staff is there at the right time.

"That's how Auntie Dawn does it. I think I'm more like her than I am Mom sometimes. It could be that Mom felt she couldn't expose me to her wild, wacky, dangerous life. Which I agree with. I'd be a much different kid if I had grown up with her while she hunted. I'd be Van Helsing but you never know," she said dryly. "Auntie Dawn did a good job and showed me all the little ways that heros needed help and needed backed up. I find that it suits me more to do that. Not because I'm a girl.

"Because, really, the scariest and most strong Avenger is Auntie Natasha. I don't know many people that would face down an alien invasion with a wrist-mounted taser, two guns, a few knives, and a bodysuit with heels. And be a major part in winning. Everyone discounts her as the token female. Or Uncle Clint as the 'normal guy' on the team. Which made him and Xander bond one night over beers. If you guys look at who does the damage and what sort of damage they do, the ones you expect do a lot more than people think plus they're full-time agents and now parents. You can't get more hard-core than that."

"No, I don't think you can," she said. "I never looked at it that way. She did have quite an impressive count during the battles." Callia smiled and nodded. "Huh." She smiled at her. "Why would Alexander be considered normal?"

"Mom did it with Willow all the time. He was the normal guy. They didn't know about his heritage until after the thing with Max and the Losers. Not really until the NID came for the Sunnydale team. They considered him their normal guy and treated him like shit sometimes because of it. Then again, they were teenage girls and Mom was a Cali princess when she was younger, before she got appointed as the Slayer. Even after they found out, they still treated him like a normal guy sometimes." She shook her head. "I'm kinda glad I never met Willow and no one compared me to her. I heard Mom's watcher, Mr. Giles, used to compare Auntie Dawn to her sometimes and it used to piss her off greatly."

"Because they're witches?"

"That and because Dawn had powers," Tony said from the doorway. "Still pisses her off when someone makes that comparison. It'd be like comparing you to a reporter with a huge drug problem that got some great stories because of it. It's the same blindness that made Xander the normal guy."

"I can see how that happens," she admitted. She smiled. "Thank you, Callia."

"You're welcome. Remember to mail us a copy?"

"I will." She shook hers and Tony's hand. "She's a bit of a tease and flirt, Tony. She wouldn't give me hardly anything about the Expo or the hybrid car."

Tony grinned. "Good." She laughed but left them alone. "Pool time?"

"Sure. I could use the floating time." She transferred over and followed him to the elevator. The reporter smiled at her. "I don't let him help very often. I'm stubborn and girls have to prove themselves sometimes."

"Not in this family. We all know Pepper really runs the family," Tony quipped. "That's why you turned out normal and fashionable and so did your aunt." The reporter snickered as she got onto her elevator. Tony waited until they were upstairs and in the pool to look at her. "You okay?" he asked quietly. "JARVIS said you were getting a bit upset."

"She asked some questions that made me a bit upset. She asked if I had your apathy for humanity. I corrected that and told her how it was exhaustion and why. She asked about Mom." He nodded, pulling her over to hug her. She rested against his shoulder. "Thanks, Dad."

"I'm still mad about your mom too. And you're right. You would've been Van Helsing or Xander's clone instead of mine if she had raised you."

"He would've stolen me." She grinned. He smirked back. She swam off to do her laps.

"Settle down and take a day off, daughter. Even Rodney and I take vacations."

"Sure." She settled against the side of the pool. "What did you guys decide about the power research?"

"Car level."

She nodded. "I can see that." He smiled. "I realize it could lead to dangerous areas. I wouldn't want that. I'm still using my future think tank to turn your suit into helping things during emergencies."

"Good. I look forward to watching one meant just for doctors come off the belt." She grinned at him for that. He settled in. "Rodney's coming up soon."

"Can he bring Uncle Radek? He could use a vacation too."

"Probably. They're spraying Atlantis for bugs."

"Poor city." He nodded. "If I'm Rodney's geek heir does that mean I have to learn about ZPM's?"

"If you want." She smiled. "I know, you've already looked stuff up."

"Yup. And I'm not sure if your new baby bridge system could help recharge them." Tony considered it, pulling up a virtual screen to think about that. She added some of her thoughts to her side. He pulled her against the side with him so they could work on the same side of the monitor.

Rodney came out, staring at the screen. "Why are you working on that?"

"Compression." She grinned. "Come join us once you have on swim trunks, Uncle Rodney." He went to change and came back to help them. He took Callia's former side of the screen, erasing her scribbles to rewrite it. She smirked at him. He stared at her. "You are much too smart for your age. Are you sure you're not an Ancient?"

"I'd hope not. They were egotistical bastards like Grandfather." She grimaced. "What a horrible thing to say to me, Uncle Rodney." She hit him and almost kicked him. "Hey, you moved," she told her leg. Tony sighed in pleasure and hugged her. She relaxed. "I'll have to show that off tomorrow." They got back to work. Dawn came out to give them snacks and drinks, staring at Rodney until he ate. She laid down a glucometer too.

"Dawn, what happened to your new shoes?" Tony asked casually.

"The heel broke, boss. I think he's still mad about his antique car getting smashed by the Chitauri. I'm having the other people fix it."

"Good. Don't go back there."

"No plan of it," she assured him. "Benji knows someone better in London and he's going to introduce me."

"Great. We're going to London in five months," Tony reminded her.

She smirked at him. "I know. I'm taking some time off for that and some real shopping then." She went back down to her desk.

Radek came out reading a book. "Is supposed to be time off, not time to tinker," he complained mildly.

"Callia realized our recent research led to recharging the ZPM's," Tony said.

Radek came over to look, smiling at them. "Is nice and compact math, Callia. Nice job."

She grinned. "Thanks, Uncle Radek. The reporter asked me who I looked up to and I mentioned you two and Uncle John."

Rodney looked at him. "Really?"

"He explained planes to me and let me use the simulator."

"Good point." He shook his head.

She hugged him. "You're still a favorite uncle." He grinned and swatted her, letting her help them some more. When they finally came to a dead end but a promising one, they saved it down and put it up so they could have dinner and relax out there instead of work.

***

GHS Xander finally went back to his home realm. He and Benji had ended up really good friends. Him and Aaron too. He had letters for both of them in this realm if he could find them. Thankfully he was still on his world trip and near where Aaron was hiding. He found him in the market and followed him back, not minding when he was grabbed and shoved against a building. "Not here to hurt you. I was talking to another version of you in another realm earlier."

"You're insane," he said.

"Actually, not quite." He held up the letter with a grin. "He wanted you to have that. Also," he said, looking around. "You got the wrong attention. One of my poker buddies found you for me. So let's get you somewhere safer. I like that Aaron, he was a nice guy." He stared at him until he read the letter.

"What sort of poker buddy?" he ground out, then calmed himself down to look at him.

"Arms dealer." He grinned. "He gets me some pretty shit that I'm only allowed to keep for emergencies." He nodded. "We're at the hotel with the tour group. C'mon. You can blend in I'm sure." He looked around. "Your friend?"

"She wanted to go back to work. She's safely tucked into a lab." He stared at him. "You and I were friends there?"

"Kinda. We hung out. Benji took us both to play miniature golf a few times." He smiled. "Long story. I can let you talk to him once I get near a mirror." That got an odd look so Xander pulled his sword and used it on the throat of the person following him. "Hi." The man wet himself. "I take it you know who I am?"

"Xander," he said, trying to swallow. "I mean you no harm. I'm bringing a letter from Wade." He held it up.

Xander stared at him. "I'm going to see Wade right now. At the hotel?" He nodded. "Good." They walked off, him putting the sword back.

"It shrank."

"It does that." Xander grinned. "It's magic."

"Really?" he asked dryly.

"Yeah. I don't have much." He created a portal back to Aaron's apartment and walked him through then closed it. "We're getting ready to leave Greece in a few hours." Aaron blinked but packed and Xander got them to the hotel. He walked in and nodded at Wade. "We haven't checked out, have we?"

"No, not for an hour. Where were you?"

"Doing the yard sale stuff Horatio demanded with that other Xander that's a god and his Dawn's help." He smiled. "This is Aaron."

"Uh-huh." He looked at him. "Do I want to know?"

"Nope. Tell you later." He got them up to their room and turned on the spell for the mirror. "There you go. Hi, Aaron and Benji. I got back okay. One of the poker buddies found him."

Aaron looked at himself. "Xander's fun, he's cute, he's good, he's stolen a lot by people who would love to kill us. He has CIA computer access legitimately." Aaron stared at Xander.

"Poker buddy. I won it." He looked at Benji. "Any idea where you are?"

"Right about where you're going in a few days." He smirked. Xander grinned back. "You need to pack up the horses, the dogs, the ferrets, the Winchesters, and your slightly psychotic assistant's family to come here."

"I'd have to pack Horatio, Speed, and Mellie, plus Adam, Ray, and Toby. And the bed."

"You can do that," Benji said.

Xander smiled. "Maybe." He winked. "I'm coming back there. I have bad ideas and might even talk to my ex's."

Wade knocked and leaned into the bedroom. "No you're not. I'll shoot them. We're leaving in an hour. Do I need to use the system to make him a passport?"

"I have a good one," Aaron said. He looked at himself. "Huh?" Aaron went back to explaining things to him. "Huh." He blinked at Xander, who smiled. "Sure, I can help. Who's with you now?"

"Jensen had to go back to Miami for a hard retrieval so that cures a huge problem," Wade said dryly. "As long as you fuck him now and then. Let's go, boys." He paused. "I know you," he told Benji.

"Good, make sure Xander delivers my letter to the me there and talks to me."

"Sure," he agreed, looking him up. "We'll get with him in two days when it looks like we'll be in the same city. I can help his spider monkey idiot friend."

That Benji cackled at that. He looked at Xander, who smiled. "Clint called Ethan a flying squirrel more than once. He's still pouty about that." Xander grinned. They packed up everything, including the pets, and left for the airport. Aaron's didn't get much attention since Wade had forged the entrance stamp for him. They got onto the plane.

***

Xander walked up to a guy at a table in a café, reaching around him to type something into the box he was looking at. "Shh, I have full access from a poker contact," he said quietly. He got him into it and smiled, sitting down and ordering a coffee. "Find it."

Benji stared at him. "Who're you?"

"Xander." He put the letter on the table. "From a you that I met recently. He's a few years older." Benji put it into his pocket and found what he needed, which was more than they were expecting. Xander let him shut down the computer then reopened it and did the seeing spell. "There."

Benji stared at himself. "I aged like crap."

"Brain surgery. Someone took me to make me a linked human computer terminal. Aches like shite some days." He grimaced back. "I take it Xander's there?" Benji nodded. "Trust Xander. Protect Xander, please? I'd do it if he was here but bad guys like Xander. Like the one you're probably after. Read the letter yet?" Benji pulled it out to read it and grimaced. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He tapped his earpiece, getting Ethan. He handed him the letter and what he had found.

Ethan stared at the other Benji. "Clones?"

"Other realm," Xander said with a grin. "And if you're after Thom, he's presently tied up in the closet until Wade feels like dealing with him. He broke into my room to play with my hair." He sipped his coffee.

"Already, Xander?" the Benji on the screen asked.

Xander shrugged at him. "I was asleep on Ramses."

"The dog is cute. You need to come back here and bring the whole group. Clay could like having twin Jensens and Cougar's."

"Shut up," Clay shouted. "You wish that on me again and I'm going to rip those stitches out through your asshole."

Xander laughed. "Sorry, Clay. I'd have to bring Jensen and Cougar. I'd miss them. But you'd have another you."

Clay leaned into view. "No," he said slowly and clearly. "And if you make our realms merge I'm going to kill a lot of people."

"Just leave me someone to date," he quipped with a grin.

"Definitely. Because, damn!" He walked off shaking his head.

Xander snickered. That Benji laughed too. Ethan and that Aaron shook their heads.

Aaron sat down, waving at him. "Hi. Wade's kind of psycho."

"He used to work for Max until Max came after me. Then someone brought Wade and Roque back to be my assistant. I let Roque go screw Buffy's evil out of her."

"That's so weird," the local Benji said. He looked at himself. "Now what?"

"Now, go with Xander." Benji grinned. "Get to know each other better if you can. Ethan, don't take the Russian job." That Ethan rolled his eyes. This one looked confused. "Trust me. Really don't. You guys don't have Clint there to help. You'd have to rely on Aaron there to help since you don't have a Clint to fill in."

"I don't understand," Ethan complained.

"Xander can explain it," that Ethan said. "Just... yes, he's bouncier than we are. Bad people we'd like to get into custody adore Xander and his hair. They like to give him presents too." He smirked. "I still say there's something like your condition here and it's in Dawn and all the Summers family."

"Maybe," Xander agreed.

"Just go with the plan," that Ethan said. "I'm saving you a lot of pain and stress. Especially when we go Ghost Protocol in a few years." The local Ethan shuddered. "Exactly. So let Xander tell you guys that. You guys can hang out with Xander and find him a nice boyfriend if he and Benji don't work out there. Of course, if he comes here, you've got to make sure all the family group comes," he said dryly. "And his antique bed."

"I might be able to ask wardrobe living Xander for a favor," Xander said. The local Benji gave him an odd look so he whistled with a smile. "He's an apprentice."

"Oh, dear god," he said with a smile. "You really are insane."

"Sometimes it comes with being a Xander. We hold yearly conventions. There's one in a few weeks if you want to come with me. We can probably get you and that Benji together for a bit."

"Maybe," Ethan said. "If we're not busy." He looked over as Wade walked over. "I was hoping he was talking about someone else."

"Nope." He looked at the screen. "Get your ass to this realm."

"I might just do that." He smirked. "The horses sound nice."

"They are. He even makes me ride with him. If you're not coming here, pick him someone. Please?" He glared at his boss. "I just met two more."

"I'm down."

"Uh-huh." He glared, hands on his hips. Xander finished his coffee and followed him back to the hotel.

That other Ethan shook his head. "He does it to protect Xander. He really does." He looked at Benji. "If we retire you can go over there. I'll call if I need you."

"I think we can do that." He grinned at himself with a wink. "Talk to me later before you draw more attention." They cleaned up and Aaron went with them.

Ethan stared at him. "Aaron Cross." He held out a hand.

"I've heard." He shook it. "Ethan and Benji."

"I met the other ones a few days back. Xander's a bit intense up close and personal." They escaped the area back to the hotel to talk to them about what had happened that was that bad. Aaron could handle that role. It'd give him a better way to hide and Ethan knew the Director so they wouldn't have a problem. Thankfully they didn't have a SHIELD in their realm. Though Xander and Benji did have a great date that night.

The End.